How to keep grout out of change of plane?

[Archway]

Newbie to tiling here. Reading all I can about the process before I attempt first project. One question I have is with caulking at changes of plane.

How do you keep the grout out of those lines until you're ready to caulk? Do you use tape or just be very careful when applying grout, trying not to get it into changes of plane? Thank you!

[jadnashua]

Scrape out any that might get there prior to it curing. If you've got waterproofing on the wall, you need to be careful not to damage it.

[Archway]

Roger that. Thanks for the help!

[jadnashua]

An old toothbrush can help, too. Sometimes, a flat-blade screwdriver, or a putty knife. With a putty knife, if you've got an older one, or one you're willing to round the edges over a bit, that will work as well and not risk damaging the waterproofing as much.

[Tool Guy - Kg]

If you use tape, it prevents you from getting grout in the last little bit of the grout lines leading into the corner. For big tiles, I use big strokes with the float to grout a majority of the wall, keeping an inch or so away from the corner…then use the corner of the float to grout each individual line going into the corner. If you’ve got mosaics or small tiles, this becomes impractical and it’s easier to just grout everything, then clean out the corner joint. Another tool to use to get excess grout out of the corner joint is a ratty, worn sponge that can sneak in there.

…Speaking of that (color variations in grout are an extremely common problem with cheap grout), it’s good to get something other than the cheapest grout…something like Laticrete’s Permacolor or Custom Building Products’ Prism are good choices that dry to the advertised color.

[diydanny]

I used this Hyde mini brush.

[Archway]

Thank you all!