Sealing/Grouting questions

[CoryPollard]

Hello, I am working on my second tile project and getting ready to grout it. I have used 12" procelain glazed tile, with a natural stone accent. I am going with a Earth colored grout, so it will be substantially darker than the stone. Do I need to seal the stone before I grout? If so what kind of selare do I need to use? Thanks.

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[doitright]

Hi Cory, Welcome! :)

Sorry for the delay. You have two choices. Either use a grout release on the natural stone prior to grouting, or any water based sealer. All you need is a temporary barrier prior to grouting. It's not uncommon for me to just lightly dampen the stone (and tile) prior to grouting (with no sealer). It depends on how porous the stone is.

[duneslider]

I have never had a problem just grouting the stone. It is good to hit it with a wet sponge first.

[doitright]

Hi Bryan :)

I do the same. A potential problem with that method is that if a darker grout is used, there is a chance of some of the grout pigment getting into the pores of the stone.

[duneslider]

John,

While I have heard that comment made many times I have never seen it happen. I am sure some grout colors would be more likely to do it. I just did a travertine job with sahara beige and had no issues. However, I am sure black or lipstick would give me trouble. Don't tell anyone but I have used grey thinset with travertine too.

[doitright]

Hi Bryan :)

Gray thinset on travertine? That's nothing. I used gray thinset on my very first white carrara marble job! :eek: It didn't take me long to figure out that I had to remove what I had set that day and go pick up some white thinset & reinstall. :bang: In my defense, that was almost 30 years ago. :nod: :D:

[CoryPollard]

Sorry to ummm, hijack your thread, but, I have couple more questions. The grouting went well today, I sealed the stone before I did it and it cleaned up nicely, I am happy with the way it turned out. As I was wiping it down the last time tonight I noticed that the grout is discolored in several places, is this it drying? or is it efflorescence? How long should I wait to seal? When is the best time to caulk the bottom against the pan? And also when is the best time to hang the door? Wow that's alot of questions, thanks!

[jondon]

Hello Cory,

Nice shower! Hopefully the discolored grout you speak of is just the grout drying, it does take some time to dry. It is much darker while it is wet so it does look like in your pics it is just drying and hopefully it came out the same color. If there are any problems you don't want to seal the grout, get the grout taken care of first. If you seal over it and you have problems your sealing the problem! Efflorescence would normally take some time to occur and that would not be the case here since you just grouted last night! Wait 48-72 hours to seal the grout, if your happy with the grout. This is normal since you want the grout to cure before you seal it, when you seal the grout on the walls just use a container and paint brush(clean one!) That makes it easy, though many others do it a different way. Caulkiing the pan, I would wait till you seal the grout, then caulk away! If you have the door to hang, I would say do this after everything else is done, make sure to caulk around the door and at the sill. Not sure if you have ever done this but they make caulk that is white but turns clear. Reason for this I am assuming is you can see what your caulking, you want it clear because you want to seal that area tween the door and wall but not for it to be noticeable. Also make sure you have some good tile bits to drill through the tile if you are using a door with a frame, typical glass tile bits at big box stores don't normall go through the new porcelain tile, but you can try! Let me know how it turns out, hope that grout is dry and consistent!

[doitright]

Hi Cory :)

Hijack whose thread? :lol1:

Shower looks great!

1. Most grout manufactures ask you to wait 72 hours before sealing.
2. Wait until later today to evaluate grout color consistency.
3. Depends on the sealer & caulk. I like to use silicone caulk after a solvent based sealer is used. If a siliconized acrylic caulk is used, I'll caulk first. It's all an issue of what will give the best bond. When I was a union worker, we would caulk all perimeter corners (with Polyseamseal) after the last tile is set, and grout the next day. No fear of grout in the joints, and very productive.
4. Shower door can go in after caulk has cured. With some of these extremely dense porcelain tiles, I like to use a small diamond coated core bit (available on line).

[CoryPollard]

Just went and checked it out this morning and it is all the same lighter color except for a few places, so that must be the color. I liked the darker color better... oh well. Thanks guys, I'll probably give it a week and seal it.