ᐅ Light-colored grout for floor tiles: a good idea or complete nonsense?
Created on: 24 Oct 2017 20:25
K
Kaspatoo
Hello,
we have chosen floor tiles. In stores, they were also nicely displayed on a board with grout lines, which looked appealing. The grout there was light/beige.
(I am not interested in wall tiles here.)
The tiler offers two standard grout colors and also provides several color palettes with additional grout options, which of course come with extra costs.
The owner of the small tiling company, as well as the tile salesperson, advised us against choosing light grout colors because they tend to darken significantly after 1-2 years due to dirt, foot traffic, and cleaning (mopping pushes dirt into the grout lines, as they are recessed, making it “rubbed in”). It is possible to clean it again, but it would require intensive scrubbing, which is very time-consuming.
However, the tiler’s employee who will actually install the tiles, and a tile salesperson from another building materials supplier, said that the darkening after 1-2 years is not as dramatic or intense as described. They also mentioned that with narrow grout lines of 3mm (0.12 inches), the issue of “rubbed in” dirt from mopping is not as severe.
Visually, we would of course prefer the light grout colors. This would increase our costs by about €400 (approximately 430 USD). But that would be money wasted if the color really fades after 1-2 years.
Therefore, I am hoping for some real-life experiences from you. Do you have light grout that has been in place for several years? How does it look?
Thank you.
we have chosen floor tiles. In stores, they were also nicely displayed on a board with grout lines, which looked appealing. The grout there was light/beige.
(I am not interested in wall tiles here.)
The tiler offers two standard grout colors and also provides several color palettes with additional grout options, which of course come with extra costs.
The owner of the small tiling company, as well as the tile salesperson, advised us against choosing light grout colors because they tend to darken significantly after 1-2 years due to dirt, foot traffic, and cleaning (mopping pushes dirt into the grout lines, as they are recessed, making it “rubbed in”). It is possible to clean it again, but it would require intensive scrubbing, which is very time-consuming.
However, the tiler’s employee who will actually install the tiles, and a tile salesperson from another building materials supplier, said that the darkening after 1-2 years is not as dramatic or intense as described. They also mentioned that with narrow grout lines of 3mm (0.12 inches), the issue of “rubbed in” dirt from mopping is not as severe.
Visually, we would of course prefer the light grout colors. This would increase our costs by about €400 (approximately 430 USD). But that would be money wasted if the color really fades after 1-2 years.
Therefore, I am hoping for some real-life experiences from you. Do you have light grout that has been in place for several years? How does it look?
Thank you.
In my old house, I had silvery gray? grout in the living room. I tiled and grouted it myself... anyway: at some point I was on my knees scrubbing with oxy cleaner and a toothbrush to make the grout in the room look almost as light as the edges of the room again. Didn’t work.
Save yourself the trouble and go dark!
I can’t imagine that narrow grout lines would behave differently.
Save yourself the trouble and go dark!
I can’t imagine that narrow grout lines would behave differently.
Hello "Kaspatoo".
Once again, the truth lies somewhere in between!
If we consider a standard cement-based grout for floor tiles, as a homeowner, you will naturally notice some staining after a few months or a few years. At first glance, this seems inevitable. This is quite noticeable with grout joints narrower or wider than 3mm (0.12 inches).
However, there are also special grout materials whose properties impressed me at construction trade fairs. For example, PCI "Nanofug" resists staining even from red wine completely upon contact.
The same applies to mechanical dirt, which can be removed much more easily than usual—making the "crawling around on all fours" with a toothbrush in hand unnecessary...
Best regards, KlaRa
Once again, the truth lies somewhere in between!
If we consider a standard cement-based grout for floor tiles, as a homeowner, you will naturally notice some staining after a few months or a few years. At first glance, this seems inevitable. This is quite noticeable with grout joints narrower or wider than 3mm (0.12 inches).
However, there are also special grout materials whose properties impressed me at construction trade fairs. For example, PCI "Nanofug" resists staining even from red wine completely upon contact.
The same applies to mechanical dirt, which can be removed much more easily than usual—making the "crawling around on all fours" with a toothbrush in hand unnecessary...
Best regards, KlaRa
Hmm, I wonder if the products used by the tiler contain any nanotechnologies... He just uses the color palette from a specific supplier for grout colors, and that's it. But you don’t have any real-world experience with them, right? (At the trade fair, he used materials he brought himself.)
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