July 14, 2009
How To Repair Cracked Grout
Here is a little guide I made on repairing SMALL areas of cracked grout…
Sanded Caulking: a type of caulking (caulking is a rubbery sealant used to seal all the corners and joints in a shower) which has sand added to match the appearance of sanded grout (the grout usually used on tile floors).
This is especially useful when the grout cracked as a result of slight movement or a settling crack when the grout is likely to crack again.
This is not a good solution for large areas but it is a helpful trick around door thresholds and also if you have a very small hole to fill after you do a cleaning job.
The area in question:
Close up:
Sanded caulking and sponge being used:
Available at Lowes and Home Depot:
After sanded caulking:
After floor has been color sealed to match:
Posted in Before & After Pictures, Color Sealing & Staining, Regrouting & Repair, Tile & Grout | No Comments »
July 12, 2009
I Hate Color Sealing WHITE Grout – But It Sure Looks GOOD
For those still new to the grout cleaning game:
Grout Color Sealing: Using an epoxy based or similar type of product to fill the pores and surface of a grout line to change the color and seal grout lines – a “semi-permanent” process
Here is a job I did where the customer wanted white grout. Actually it was pure white originally… the truth of the matter is that you can never get it 100% pure-pure white unless you use a color sealer.
Even then it’s best to add just a slight touch of “off whiteness” to the batch.
Pure white is a BAD because even the slightest non-whiteness from below shows through and gives you hard to cover-up inconsistencies.
Whether you can see or not… I did add a tint (a tiny bit) to the “Bright White” colorant to make it a bit off white.
The customer didn’t notice and it turned out great!
Before
After
Here is a during photo for comparison:
During
Posted in Before & After Pictures, Color Sealing & Staining, Tile & Grout | No Comments »
July 09, 2009
Grout Color Sealing Video – Color Sealing a Shower
Hey Guys,
This video shows a guy from GroutShields.com showing how his color sealer product works.
Basic a grout “color sealer” is a type of epoxy-ish product (their chemical make-up can vary but you get the point) which fills in the pores of the grout and covers it.
Grout Color Stains/Color Sealers (called by different names) are pretty much the best type of sealer you can get for grout because they are considered “semi-permanent” and difficult to remove.
They are more time consuming to apply than regular “clear sealers” but are worth the effort in my opinion.
I don’t particularly endorse Grout Shields as I’ve never used their product but the video is helpful…
Posted in Color Sealing & Staining, Tile & Grout | No Comments »
February 17, 2008
Cleaning and Color Sealing Step by Step
Here some pictures of the progression of the dirty – clean – color seal.
Dirty:
Cleaned:
Color Sealed:
Posted in Before & After Pictures, Color Sealing & Staining | No Comments »
February 17, 2008
Grout Color Sealing Job From This Week
Here is a quick 250 sq foot clean and color seal we did this week.
Before:
During:
After:
Job was complete in a few hours.
Posted in Before & After Pictures, Color Sealing & Staining | No Comments »
February 04, 2008
Finding the “perfect” color
I usually carry the Grout Perfect Color Kit which contains 12 colors but the customer was looking for something outside of the range of what I had. It took quite a bit of experimentation and trial and error to find the color she was finally looking for but only after concocting a hybrid color abomination sourced from 3 different grout manufacturers was I able to get it perfect.
I was also able to use up a lot of the half empty bottles I’ve been carrying around in my truck for over a year 
Can anyone identifty the 3 different grout color manufacturers I used here?
Posted in Color Sealing & Staining | No Comments »