Spectralock definitely has its place in the industry. I've used about 16 full units in the last week, and I'm not done yet on the project I'm working on. However, I personally think that it's overkill in a residential installation. That's personal opinion, though.

well..since I am the one who cleans the shower, I vote for the spectralock in showers. We also have "rusty" water and the spectralock doesn't turn various shades of pink. The residue from the hard water just wipes off.

I don't have it on the countertop, but I have it on the floor in both the shower and the main bathroom. I have found that it's not anywhere near as "bulletproof" WRT staining as the manufacturer leads one to believe. I have been very disappointed with it - Bill tried to tell me not to use it and just about every day I kick myself for not listening to him.

A question, johnmari: how long after the grout was installed did the stain happen? I remember you talking about some wood stain getting on it and leaving a permanent mark? Someone on a mosaic list said that the grout takes a month to reach full stain-resistance.

flyleft, the tile was installed in October '05 and the woodwork in the following June (dunno if you remember we had that carpenter with the fudged references who ruined several hundred dollars' worth of oak moldings). More stains came along in July from the plumber's new jeans where he sat on the floor. We have relatively new hard-water stains, too, and despite regular scrubbing (DH takes that on) the floor looks permanently grungy. If we were staying here I would tackle it with Aquamix grout colorant but not now. :-) It's not that I think that regular grout would have resisted those stains, because I don't, it's that I don't think the Spectralock is everything it's claimed to be and one might as well save the money and go with the regular stuff.

The reason I asked the question is because I went on a forum about expoxy grout and little good was said about it by the people who had it installed in their residential settings. One person responded that the grout may have not been applied properly. This person said repetitive rinses with clear water is required. That is why I asked about Spectralock Pro since the manufacture states the ease of application and the fact it has better stain resistancy. It's hard to know if the installer of the grout is to blame or the epoxy grout just isn't cracked up to be what it should be.

Wow, johnmari, that's quite an assortment of stains...from jeans?! And that long after. That's really good information; may I pass it on to the mosaic list?

I'm *almost* done with the grout colorant magnum opus...UGH...but it looks *so* much better than it did before. I feel like Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Just like him. LOL

flyleft, indigo dyed denims are often improperly processed (too much dye left on the fabric), and if jeans haven't been thoroughly prewashed, the dye can transfer to other surfaces in the first few wearings. This happens way too often with the super-dark jeans; they don't go through the "industrial-strength" washes at the factory the way some of the lighter finishes do, so there's more dye left in the fabric to bleed or "crock". (It's not something that happens only with cheap jeans, either. Levi's "rigid" finish is notorious for this, and I don't know if they still do but they used to warn you about it right on the tag!) Why some people don't wash new clothes before wearing them I have no idea - DH doesn't so I have to remember to wash things before he gets a chance to wear them. I just have to get that dang itchy sizing off!

As for whether the installer of the grout is to blame for its iffy performance, ask Bill. :-)

Right, now I remember--I haven't bought that kind of jeans for years. IT used to be the only kind you should buy, iirc :) They're cool, but they're supposed to be washed before you wear them...and wrt installation error: I think we can safely eliminate that as a factor :)

The Grout Colorant Epic is OVER, btw! I'm going to put some sealer over it all (mostly for the sake of the onyx, but some to soak into the grout colorant and maybe help it bond to the epoxy grout? but the onyx needs it anyway) and we can MOVE ON from this horrible sidetrack of our soon-to-be-ending remodel.

(One on-topic tip about the laticrete spectralock: if you're going to match it to another laticrete product, esp. if it's really near it, do a TEST batch (same proportions, smaller units) to see if it matches. There's no way at present not to have to eat the cost of the grout if it doesn't match, but it's easier to go buy another color than to spend the next however many hours coloring all the grout by hand to match. I can tell you that "Light pewter" is much lighter than the laticrete sanded grout. Hence the Grout Colorant Epic. Not fun.)

springwater-- there's no way an installer can affect the stain resistant performance of Spectralock, or any other epoxy.

Fly-- no sealer on the colorant. It won't help at all, and it may actually ruin the look of the installation.

Oops, Bill...well, you know what happened: thank the forces, it worked out *beautifully*, IMO. If it had been horrible and I'd read your post now I think I'd just have collapsed into a hopeless heap after all this.

But it sealed the onyx, and to my eye makes the colorant look more integrated into the underlying grout. Probably doesn't help the colorant/grout functionally, but thank goodness it didn't do anything damaging. What were you concerned about the ruining of the look of the installation? Maybe I'm missing something...I feel like I dodged a bullet out of pure ignorance. Ignorance is finally bliss for once rather than a cougar stalking me from behind...

I feel like I dodged a bullet out of pure ignorance.

Sounds like you did. Neither the colorant, nor the grout, will let the sealer penetrate, which means it should have sat on top of the grout and hazed over. I have a feeling that when you wiped off the excess sealer, you may have wiped the sealer right off the joints, which is why it didn't haze up.

We used it on our kitchen counter tiles. It's been in for 3 or 4 years now and I've been happy with its stain resistance. We have 4 kids at home and I've seen all kinds of things get spilled on there and not noticed it until the next day. Let's see, wine, strawberries, Kool-Aid, Coffee. All came right out. We used the regular, not the pro. We also did DIY (we were terrified after reading about other people's disasters) and it was great!

There is no difference between the two with reference to stain resistance. The difference is in application. The Pro is much better to work with. As for staining, the problem comes when dealing with any kind of very fine dust that has any kind of strong colored pigmentation to it.

Ha--I may have, Bill. But at least I sealed the onyx well, I guess.

Bill, what do you mean when you say, "As for staining, the problem comes when dealing with any kind of very fine dust that has any kind of strong colored pigmentaion to it"? I thought I read a while back that you recommend a darker colored grout to hide staining. Are you saying that the staining problem is the same whether you use dark colored Spectralock or dark colored regular grout?

The darker color will hide any staining alot better, and I was talking about using conventional grout, not Spectralock. Keep in mind-- Spectralock WILL fight off stains better than anything out there. it's just not the end all that it's been made out to be.