Grouting tile with holes/indentations


  #1  
Old 01-19-03, 08:37 AM
Jeff44
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Grouting tile with holes/indentations

We are installing some tile in a bathroom that has a natural stone look (holes and indentations in the surface of the tile). My concern is how to grout these tiles. If I do it like a normal flat tile, spreading the grout over the entire surface, it seems like the grout would fill in the holes and indentations. Is there a special way to do these types of tile so this does not happen? Do I just have to be more particular and only put the grout into the seems?

Jeff
 
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Old 01-19-03, 09:56 AM
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Jeff,

This question is asked a lot and can go two ways.

Some people such as yourself don't want to fill in those holes with grout others do. Afterall you paid big money for those holes and you'd like to keep them.

Trouble is...those holes can become a breeding ground for mold mildew and all sorts of bacteria especially in a bathroom which is a moist environment anyway. Moisture, little or no light, and no air flow is the recipe for mold and mildew.

I know!!! I made your day, right?

You could use a grout bag (cake decorator type thing) and fill just the grout lines to save getting grout into the holes of the field surfaces. Or you could do as I do and grout everything then remove the grout from the holes using a stiff toothbrush. This latter method can be tedious and you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself during the application (grout) process.

Or...you could fill the holes with the grout and be happy knowing it will be much easier to care for in the future and you won't be raising little animals when the lights are off.

Let's see if anyone else has some ideas.
 
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Old 01-19-03, 10:51 AM
BoatCop
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I'm no expert, but wouldn't duct tape, low tack masking tape or similar over the top portion of the tile work to keep the grout out of the decorative indents?

It would be tedious putting the tape on every tile (you don't mention the tile size), but not as tedious as Bud's toothbrush.
 
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Old 01-19-03, 12:08 PM
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...would depend on the number of pocks and crevices per square foot but the toothbrush and sponge combination really isn't that bad. The word "tedious" is relative.
 
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Old 01-19-03, 07:44 PM
Jeff44
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Thanks guys.

I am using a mix of 4X4 and 2X2 tiles. Luckly the area I am covering is relatively small. The grout bag seems like the way to go on this small job.

When you grout the whole area and then scrub out the indentation, do you do this while the grout is still wet?
 
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Old 01-19-03, 08:44 PM
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OH MY GOD YES!!!

Absolutely.

That's why I said you didn't want to get too far ahead of yourself during the application of the grout. Give yourself time to get a section cleaned up before you apply additional grout.


Had a lady call me one day on a thursday. She wanted to know how long she should leave her grout on her tile before she cleaned it off. I told her the time varied but usually about thirty minutes or so.

"Oh my God" she said, "I smeared that grout on those walls last sunday".
 
 

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