Grouting your Bathroom

By Murray Anderson

Removing the old floor or wall coverings, making sure the underlying substrate is sound and actually installing the tiles is all part of a bathroom redo. However, even after you’ve done all that work don’t think your project is just about complete, you still have some important decisions to make. Your newly installed tiles needed to be grouted before you can stand back to admire your handiwork work, and since all grouts aren’t the same you still have some decisions to make.

First you need to choose between sanded or unsanded grout. This decision is fairly straight forward since your tile design or layout will make your first choice easy for you. Depending on how wide the gaps between tiles are, you should use either unsanded grout (for tile seams less than ¼”) or sanded grout (for joints wider than ¼”). Unsanded grout is finer in texture it can get right down into the tile seams and form a strong, solid bond, while thicker sanded grout would end up leaving holes or open spaces in a thin grout line.

However, in addition to choosing between sanded and unsanded grout there are some other choices to make. There are a number of different types of grout available and you need to determine what type of grout and what color you want to use to finish your tile job. Here’s a quick primer on tile grouts.

Cement based grout

• Commonly known as Portland cement based grout this is the most common type of grout used in homes. It’s inexpensive, relatively easy to work with and available at home improvement stores in a variety of colors.


• Cement based grout is available in both sanded and unsanded forms as well as either in a powder you mix yourself or premixed.  Although the premix is more expensive than the powder, since it’s ready to use, it has the advantages that you don’t need to worry about mixing in the proper proportions or whether the grout is the proper consistency.


• You can also get Portland cement grout that’s been modified by adding latex to increase the grout’s water resistance which makes it better for use in a bath or shower.

Epoxy and Furan Grouts

• Primarily for industrial use, these grouts don’t use any cement as their hardening/curing component. Primarily for use in industrial applications, they are expensive and difficult to apply but the fact they are highly resistant to chemicals and acids makes them ideal in certain applications.  It’s unlikely a homeowner would need to use either an epoxy or furan grout in a home project.

Epoxy Resin Grout

• Although more expensive than cement based grouts, epoxy resin grouts will resist water absorption and staining, and are stronger than cement grouts making them ideal for use in a home project. It’s made up using epoxy resin, a hardener, silica fillers and colored pigments and as an added benefit, the grout color won’t fade over time, meaning it will save you work in the long run.

Choosing your bathroom grout color light or dark?

• Light colors tend to show dirt quickly, making them a poor choice for high traffic areas like a floor but ideal for a shower or walls.  However, light colored grouts make the tiles themselves more noticeable which is some cases and has the advantage of helping conceal tile spacing that is slightly off.


• Darker colored grouts won’t show dirt or stain easily making them a good choice for a floor. Also, because of their darker color, they stand out more than lighter colors, making them a better choice for wider tile lines.

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer with over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He can be contacted at murand@lycos.com.