Grout Color: I Knew it Would But...

16 years ago

I knew my grout choice would dry a couple shades lighter than the color stick/chart but FOUR shades lighter?? We used Custom's Haystack...saw the color name on the bag with my won eyes. It's been 2 1/2 days since grouting and the color is FOUR shades lighter. Looks like we used Custom's Alabaster :o I wanted some contrast in my grout color vs tile color. I know I used AquaMix's Enhancing Sealer on my kitchen's granite and UNsanded grout lines. I guess I can use an enhancing sealer on these (sanded) grout lines to darken them?? Just found the sealer bottle but the directions aren't on the bottle. Is it a 72 hour wait before sealing?

Monica

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Comments (15)

bill_vincent
16 years ago
Monica, unless you find directions that say you can do otherwise, yes-- I'd wait the 72 hours. That's the industry's standard for complete drying time for grouts and mortars.
kitchendetective
16 years ago
I used a grout that looked like a dark concrete gray on the mosaic in my kitchen, thinking that it would be a paler concrete color when dry. I started to freak out that I had ruined the mosaic because the grout was so dark. It dried to the same color as the Antique White in my master bath. I'm just lucky that I ended up preferring the result that I got. I guess that grout that dries much lighter than the sample is not unusual.
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monicakm_gw
Original Author
16 years ago
bill, I waiting the 72 hours (or longer) and used the enhancing sealer on a spot in a closet. This (AquaMix) sealer says it's good up to 3 years. The AquaMix Gold 15 *says* it's good for up to 15 years. I don't use chemicals to clean my tile floors. I use steam. The Gold 15 is water based. Do you know of an enhancing sealer that offers longer protection than 3 years? Oops, I guess I'm asking the wrong fella about sealers (lol)
kitchendetective, I knew grout dries lighter than the sample but this was WAY lighter than I expected it to be. I can darken it tho so I guess it's OK.
Monica
bill_vincent
16 years ago
Monica-- actually, you're right, when it comes to speecific warranties. I AM the wrong guy to talk to. I'm sure they're around (enhancers with longer than 3 year warranties). I just don't know which ones they are.
kitchendetective
16 years ago
Mine's way lighter than I expected it to be also. The enhancing sealer that I used on that grout was Aquamix and it did not darken the grout noticeably. Be sure to experiment on a test area before you commit to colorants or enhancing sealers.
organic_donna
16 years ago
I was told the opposite, that the grout will be a lot darker than the sample.
Donna
bill_vincent
16 years ago
Donna, I don't know where you heard that, but that's something I've never seen.
organic_donna
16 years ago
That's what my contractor told me. I bought a lighter grout to compensate. I guess it will be way too light. It's going to be very closely spaced so maybe that will help. It was a special order and non returnable.
Donna
organic_donna
16 years ago
Bill,
Why is everything pertaining to tile installation so complicated? It must be just me. The concensous on the JB forum is the grout gets lighter. So what is my contracter doing wrong? Maybe he's not letting the thinset dry? I hope he doesn't mess up this job. The grout I chose is a medium gray/beige. If it gets 4 shades lighter it will be too light. I'm willing to lose the money and buy new grout. That's a lot cheaper than redoing the whole job. How much darker should I go? What is a good brand?
I heard the Mapei tends to yellow.
Donna
bill_vincent
16 years ago
I don't know where you heard that. The ONLY grout I've ever heard of yellowing at all, and that's just because of the chemical matrix is the white Spectralock. Good brands would be Mapei, Laticrete, Hydroment, or TEC. As for your contractor, It doesn't sound like he's doing anything wrong. If it were fresh thinset, not only would the moisture cause the grout to dry way light, you'd also get a latex "crust" on top of the grout, resembling efflourescence.

Why not try a colorant, rather than regrouting? Then you'd be sure of the color, and the grout would be permanently sealed, and much easier to clean.
monicakm_gw
Original Author
16 years ago
Donna, think you could have misunderstood and maybe he said you'd want to buy it darker, not that it would dry darker?? Sometimes you can wash the color out by using too much water during clean up...I know that wasn't the case with my bathroom floor. DH mixed the grout to a peanut butter consistency. I'm not sure what happened. I knew to expect a couple of shades but this was NOT expected. Using an enhancing sealer helped bring it back to an acceptable shade.
Bill, it was a full week before David grouted. There's no moisture problem (and that was verified when Olshan was here doing foundation repair). Any idea what could have happened?
Monica
Monica
organic_donna
16 years ago
Bill,
Here is the post....

Here is a link that might be useful: yellowing grout
bill_vincent
16 years ago
That's interesting. I use Mapei grouts on a daily basis. It's almost all I use, and I've yet to ever have this problem once. (I hope to hell I'm not cursing myself here!)If, as Mapei suggested in answer to that person, it was a reaction to minerals in the stone or water, it wouldn't matter whose grout was used.
organic_donna
16 years ago
Bill,
You know by now that if there's a problem to be had, that I will find it. LOL
Donna
organic_donna
16 years ago
Bill,
You should have NEVER sent me to the JB forum. WAY too much information for an tile obsessed person like me. LOL
Donna

Grout Color: I Knew it Would But...

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Grout Color: I Knew it Would But...

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