John P
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 07:39 PM |
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Grouting Problem
A few months ago I tiled a bathroom using Unibond All Purpose Tile Adhesive and Grout.
When the grout dried (there is a 3mm grout width) a line formed along the centre of the grout which appeaed to be the grout shrinking back.
I spoke to Unibond who said this wasn't a problem in that the tiling would still be fine but suggested if I was concerned cosmetically then I
could simply rub some more grout into the marks which I did.
They said the cause was probably that the sponge I was using to wipe off the excess grout was too wet.
I've just done another tiling job for a neighbour and despite using an almost completely dry sponge have exactly the same problem which they
don't like because they are concerned it's a crack.
Any ideas how to avoid this in the future.
John.
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eznfrank
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 07:43 PM |
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Sponge moistness is a key factor, too dry and it will drag it out, too wet and it will dilute it down.
My old man is a tiler of 30+ years and I used to spend my summer holidays as a young lad grouting for him. He always used to say just do one single
sweep with a sponge, flip it over do another swipe and then rinse it out. When you wring it out just make it so that it stops dripping but still
quite moist
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mark.s
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 07:53 PM |
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The all in ones (fix and grout) always shrink john
Try using a tile adhesive and seperate grout ....you wont go wrong with BAL
good luck
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stonefish1
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 07:55 PM |
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as above.. spot on... and allways us a good quality sponge no 99p sponges that fall to bits in your grout...
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Peteff
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 08:00 PM |
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I run over with a piece of dowel with a taper on the end after it has dried for a while. Lean it over well so it doesn't dig in, like a pointing
tool for mortar but not as heavy.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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whitestu
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 09:19 PM |
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Get some normal dry powder grout that you mix up before use. It's miles easier to use than the adhesive / grout.
Stu
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macc man
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| posted on 17/2/10 at 09:40 PM |
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Hi, I fit bathrooms for a living and always use separate adhesive & grout. Bal products are best, but a good sponge helps. Using a plastic spatula
to run over joints makes for an even depth. Make sure sponge is not too wet. Best of luck.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 18/2/10 at 12:34 PM |
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Never had much luck with grouting with a sponge; all the tiling I've done I've used a plastic spreader (like you get with car body filler)
to force the grout into the gaps bewteen the tiles and used a bit of dowel like Pete suggests. Not the fastest solution I'm sure, but looks
fine afterwards.
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woodster
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| posted on 18/2/10 at 01:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mark.s
The all in ones (fix and grout) always shrink john
Try using a tile adhesive and seperate grout ....you wont go wrong with BAL
good luck
i agree ...... the tile adhesive shrinks back a little to help in the bonding ....
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Vindi_andy
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| posted on 18/2/10 at 02:23 PM |
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Did our kitchen myself hundreds of the little 3" things to do
Used seperate adhesive and a dry powder grout that you mix before use a proper grout float and a decent sponge.
Rinsed the sponge out after every clean did more then one swipe but not too many Still looks bloody great after 3 years and didnt even use one of
those grout finishing thingys you can get
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