Best way to grout

E

ennisjim

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Hi, I need to do a lot of grouting and would like to get some advice on best way to do it. I've done quite a bit of grouting years ago (walls only - not floors) but my technique must have been bad because it took ages.

I need to do walls and floors, but I suspect the technique may be different for each. I have heard of approach for floors where grout is poured on floor and then worked out into the spaces. This sounds like a fast way to do it, though I guess I'd need to be careful that the grout doesn't stain the tiles. Not sure how to speed up my wall grouting though.

Also, does grout need to be squeezed/compressed into spaces or does just filling the spaces and shaping the grout suffice ?

Thanks
 
I'm not sure of any special technique for walls - I have a friend who does this for a living and when I complain that for me, grouting is the worst part, he tends to agree.

'Pouring' on the floor probably speeds things up a bit - as long as the grout isn't left for more than an hour or so you shouldn't have much of a problem in simply wiping away the excess In general I don't think you have to be too careful about compressing the grout.
 
Mix up only as much grout as you can apply and clean up within half an hour or so. Make sure the grout isn't too wet or there may be shrinkage on drying. If the tile is glazed or impervious you can just empty the bucket of mixed grout onto the floor and work the grout into the joints using a good grout float. When applying the grout use the float at an angle of 45 deg. to the horizontal, finish off with a pass of the float with an angle of nearly 90 deg. to the horizontal, removing most of the excess grout. Wash off the remaining grout with a good grout sponge, rinsing frequently. When a haze starts to form on the tiles they can be polished with a dry cloth to remove the remaining grout haze.
 
Just use a [broken link removed] to work the grout into all the nooks and crannies. If any of the tiles are natural stone, make sure you seal them prior to grouting. This will make the clean up that little bit easier.
Leo
 
Thanks all for the advice. sueellen your links were extremely useful. I also found [broken link removed].
 
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