Grout sealer

[mridgeelk]

After retiring from home inspecting at the end of last year I have been sprucing up our home. My current project is restoring the grout color.

When we built it in 1994 we used salmon colored grout for the Saltillo tile. It looked great for the first week. Since then I have resealed the grout numerous times. I am starting to believe that there is no sealer that will last and keep the grout from getting dirty looking. Anybody have a sure fire sealer to recommend?

Thanks for any tips.

[kurt]

There's no such thing as grout sealer. It doesn't work. In fact, it's larger function is the opposite of the intended one; it holds water in the grout. You note that it looked good for about a week; that's about the time frame we see too. As we like to say, "there's no such thing as white grout".

I will grudgingly concede there are some epoxy grouts that seem to work OK, but I still have my doubts about longer term maintenance of original color. I've seen several change color just like regular grout.

Colored grouts are the idea of kitchen and bath designers and the manufacturers looking to expand their market. Throw in things like "Houzz" and all the other iterations of design/style publications, and it gets confused. Together, they have created an alternate reality separate from how tile and grout actually work.

If you're married to the idea of salmon colored grout, try an epoxy mix. Otherwise, make life easy, and use grey grout or one that isn't going to show color variance (which means grey grout).

[Chad Fabry]

Grey or dark brown. It's where they all end up.

[kurt]

Yep. In fact, I usually just use the squeeze from the thinset for my grout; wipe off the excess, clean, done. It all goes grey or brown anyway.

I think Fabry said he does the same thing.

[Chad Fabry]

Yep. In fact, I usually just use the squeeze from the thinset for my grout; wipe off the excess, clean, done. It all goes grey or brown anyway.

I think Fabry said he does the same thing.

Yep. Works awesome.

[John Kogel]

Yep. In fact, I usually just use the squeeze from the thinset for my grout; wipe off the excess, clean, done. It all goes grey or brown anyway.

I think Fabry said he does the same thing.

Yep. Works awesome.

Water will wick through the thinset and get under the tiles, no?

I did a grey tile floor in one of our spare bathrooms and she who knows best chose the grout - bright white. It looks great, but I stay out of there. []

[mridgeelk]

I just spoke with a friend that does a lot of stamped concrete about using water-based concrete sealer to seal the grout. Any pros or cons? Again, thanks for any replies.

[Chad Fabry]

Yep. In fact, I usually just use the squeeze from the thinset for my grout; wipe off the excess, clean, done. It all goes grey or brown anyway.

I think Fabry said he does the same thing.

Yep. Works awesome.

Water will wick through the thinset and get under the tiles, no?

I did a grey tile floor in one of our spare bathrooms and she who knows best chose the grout - bright white. It looks great, but I stay out of there. []

I use modified thinsets. They're pretty darn waterproof.

[marymary]

What is a modified thinset? I have offwhite grout in my kitchen and I would like to spruce it up a bit. Where do you get this thinset? Does it make the grout go a dark color?

Thanks for help.

Mary

[Jim Katen]

What is a modified thinset? I have offwhite grout in my kitchen and I would like to spruce it up a bit. Where do you get this thinset? Does it make the grout go a dark color?

Thanks for help.

Mary

Thinset is a type of mortar used for adhering tiles. It's not a sealer.

As stated earlier in this thread, grout sealers don't do what people think they're supposed to do.

As far as I know, the only way to keep light colored grouts from holding their color is to not get them dirty in the first place.