When’s the last time you thought about grout?
Have you EVER thought about grout? Even if you’ve done a kitchen or bath renovation, did you think about grout THEN?
Don’t feel bad if you haven’t. I mean, of all the amazing things to think about in this universe, I bet grout isn’t in your top million.
But grout is actually pretty important.
Let’s say you’re doing a non-controversial, perfectly lovely bathroom renovation (great for resale) with one of my standby floors – American Olean’s Chloe pinwheel in white and black – and a white 6 x 6 tile on the wall. (The 6 x 6 is more modern than the 3 x 6 subway tile we’ve all loved in recent years.)
Can’t you just use the same white grout on the walls and the floor?
Tragically, no.
In the picture below, the little bars between the wall tile and the floor tile are grout samples. The whiter one should go on the wall. The grey one should go on the floor, where it won’t look dirty after your muddy-pawed dog or your muddy-pawed 3-year-old traipses through.
You could use grey on both the walls and floor, but the grey will accentuate the grout lines – the shape of the tile – so the overall effect is more graphic. You have to be sure this is the effect you’re after. In this case, we wanted a “quieter” look – it was a small bathroom, so the white grout-white tile combo was more appropriate.
Here’s an example of grey grout on walls and floor. The skinny bars were part of a wall (a vertical accent stripe) and the bottom tile was on the shower floor. We used grey grout for all so it would recede and you could see the pretty tile shapes.
We used the same color, but not the same forumla: it’s critical that you buy unsanded grout for the walls and sanded for the floor. It’s a slippage thing. (Btw, smaller tiles on the floor give you more grout lines, which also makes the surface less slippery.)
Laticrete and Tec are two popular brands of grout. (Holy cow, these websites make me want to cry, they’re so boring. See what grout is up against? It’s hard to make it sexy.)
Anyway, both of these brands now have stain-resistant options (Laticrete has a stain-resistant formula, and Tec offers an additive), which is perfect for backsplash tile. We were using these mini-bricks on a backsplash, and the clients were deep into Italian cooking. Tomato sauce + this backsplash tile = nightmare without the stain-resistant upgrade.
So those are your grout basics. You never have to think about it again.