Tile Grout - It's A "Piece of Cake
As a dealer/contractor specializing in ceramic tile and
marble for a number of years, a question that seems to
constantly arise is: "What about the Grout?" Meaning of
course - "Do I have to have grout with my tile," or, "Will my
grout always look as dirty as my friend, Sue's?" Or perhaps,"
Will I have to scrub my grout on my hands and knees with little
to show for my efforts like my other friend , Mary?"
An analogy that appears to help our clients understand
grout a little better and to address the above grout questions
starts with a piece of cake! Cake is just flour, sugar, eggs
and a liquid. After the oven drives the moisture away and if
the top crust is cut off, the cake has a honeycomb appearance
with a lot of big and little half bubbles or holes on the
surface.
Standard Grout (as opposed to Epoxy or other special
purpose grout) is a mixture of Portland cement, colorant, a
liquid and sometimes sand, depending whether it is a a floor
or wall tile or if it is to be used for marble or ceramic tile.
After the liquid evaporates the appearance of the grout is not
unlike that of the cake that we described above. Just as the
appearance of a pound cake would look different than an angel
food cake or a cake that was under or over cooked would look
different, grout will look different depending on how it was
mixed, cured, or the kind of liquid that was used to mix it with.
If you took the cake out of the oven , cut the top off
and placed it on the countertop for a number of days, a number
of bad things would happen (unless, of course, the ants or the
dog got there first and ate it!). First of all if the cake
wasn't protected by a cover or a frosting or filled with brandy
it would become stale. It would also most likely collect dust
and dirt and become discolored as the little half bubbles or
holes were exposed to the elements. Similarly, the holes or
half bubbles in grout will become discolored if not protected
by a topical sealer (frosting) or penetrating sealer (brandy) to
either cover the holes or fill them so that dirt or other
discoloring substances can effect the appearance of the grout.
Tile Grout Continue
