I was wondering the same thing because we have two half full 25 lb bags of Laticrete Permacolor leftover from our just completed masterbath reno. If they don't have a shelf life once they're opened, I thought I'd either give them to my tilesetter or see if Habitat for Humanity would have use for them.

Unless it's in water-tight containers, shelf life is about a year. With containers, meybe longer. Mix up a little bit and let it set up at least a day and see how hard it is.

Having said that, grout is cheap...if in doubt, toss it.

Toss it. That's a year from the date of MANUFACTURE, not date of purchase. Not worth taking the chance on.

Thanks Everyone for your input....out it goes.

I didn't know grout would go bad. How does that happen if it is kept dry? I would love an exclamation.

Two words-- ambient humidity. Even in the little bit of air trapped in airtight bags. It doesn't take that much moisture to set off portland cement.

I would love an exclamation.

Here you go - !!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;)

terrick...
HAHAHA
:)

I just used some grout that I used 3 months ago but stored the leftovers in my barn. Here are the results.

"NOT GOOD! "

I Did have it for a long time prior to my 3 month prior use and had good results, but not this time. I must redo all that I have done. BUMMER!

***This time I will buy new grout and add an ADDITIVE for extra hardness.

Thing is, you MIGHT get lucky, and it MIGHT work. But chances are it won't. About 25 years ago I did some work for some friends of mine and my wife's. Trying to save them money, I used a grout that I'd had left over from tiling my own house two years prior. I'd sealed it up well, and when I opened it up, it felt nice and powdery, just like new grout. Within a week after grouting, it was all powdering back out again. Don't ever take the chance. Grout's cheap in comparison to what it could cost you if you DON'T buy new.

I wanted to use some old grout in the garage that was leftover when I bought the house. The old grout was TEC, which isn't carried by the nearby big box stores, and I didn't want to go through the hassle of trying to do color matching. Of the entire floor and shower (two projects with two different grout colors) I only needed to fix a couple of grout lines. Well, the grout looked okay but after curing is was a powdery mess. It behaved like chalk. A fingernail could scratch away the grout. After the first experience, I did small test runs with the other grout in the garage and it is all the same. From now on, new grout. Rather than use the whole bag of new grout I have tried to use a portion and add the corresponding amount of the grout enhancer until I get the desired consistency and have found this method to be fine. That way I have a little extra grout should I need to touch a small bit up, but after that I am just going to buy new grout.

Can you dispose of powdered grout in regular garbage?

Why not?

i spoke wih a tech rep from custom building products who makes various grout products. she told me that reason grout has a shelf life is because the binders in the grout lose their binding ability over time. she gave their products a two year shelf life from date of manufacture (not Purchase date) if unopened. once opened it was less. i think 6 months or less. you can find them online to get phone number and they are vey helpful and informative

SUCCESS WITH OLD STALE GROUT.

I recently tiled a small extension to floor tiles that were laid 25 years ago with 10mm gaps between .... and with tongue in cheek experimented with an old bag of grout of the same vintage, which had neither been sealed or in any way protected from the ravages of time and which was both powdery and clumpy. The colour had not changed and was irreplaceable with colours of grout currently on the market. So I gave it a go with a small sample!

I got what I expected. It didn't work!

Not one to accept all of the current wisdom and expert opinion at face value (most of which I believe comes from those with vested interests) I did what I normally do when being told "it can't be done!".....

Obviously the problem was lack of adhesion so I believed it might be possible to mix the old grout in another readily available cement additive ..... BONDCRETE which I found many years ago also had "waterproofing and sealing properties" if painted on top of cement and or cement products ..........and considered that it may be possible to mix some of the old grout with Bondcrete, that could be painted over a normal clean cement base.

I decided to fill the 10mm gaps with normal builders cement which was shaped before setting to form a base over which I would then paint my concoction of old grout and Bondcrete mix.

It worked perfectly with only one coat painted over the concrete, you could not distinguish between the original grout laid so long ago. A scratch test with a screwdriver the following morning showed no signs of weakness of the mixture. However for more strength and depth of colour maybe 1 or 2 more coats may be useful.

Caution:As Bondcrete is the adhesion medium I used, it is important to ensure that its effectiveness in not diluted by adding too much grout or water.

Suggested

Ingredients: 10 Parts Bondcrete to 1 part grout

plus a small amount of water to form a paint consistency;

Method: 1. Mix small amount of water to 1 part of grout and stir well to make a thickened

paste maybe to a wipped cream consistency (note that even old clumpy grout

can be crushed to powder form and re-used)

2. Add one part of "grout paste" to 10 parts of Bondcrete and mix well to a paintable

consistency. You can vary the parts of Bondcrete more or less to suit.

3. Paint onto respective clean concrete surface and allow to dry overnight.

4. Paint additional coats if necessary to achieve required depth of colour.

5. You may need to increase grout to Bondcrete mix by experimentation to obtain

greater depth of colour.

6. Ensure removal of excess paint from overlapping surfaces before it dries.

Note well: For small gaps between tiles It may be worhwhile, as a suggestion only, that you experiment with filling the gap with a fine mixture cement first and wipe it clean to a depth that when dry you can simply paint over it.

Please note I am a home handyman and have no association whatsoever with Bondcrete or its associated companies or businesses in any form whatsoever. This medium worked for me and I make no assertions to its success or otherwise of its use by any other persons or entity.

I hope this advice helps any and all who have been or are similarly afflicted with the stale grout syndrome.

I would welcome any comments on your success or otherwise.

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