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TEC Power Grout? What color grout for white subway tiles in bathroom

8 years ago

Hi everyone,

There were some threads on this topic, but it was from a few years ago.

1. Has anyone used TEC Power Grout? I'm concerned it might scratch our white glossy subway tiles. TEC says it may, but our tile rep said it's ok.

2. We were thinking of using bright white as the color, but I'm afraid it will turn yellow over time. We're doing very light grey with white subway tiles for the kitchen, but not sure about repeating it in the bathroom? It will go with our color scheme ... so bright white or light grey?

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

jewelisfabulous

8 years ago

We used Tec's commercial grade grout (#575) in bright white in our master bath shower. Original install was March of 2014, no yellowing whatsoever. I like that it's stain and mold resistant.

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Comments (6)

cat_mom
8 years ago
Have used TEC bright white grout (regular and XT) in bathrooms and on our kitchen backsplash--none have yellowed.
Ann thanked cat_mom
Ann
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi cat_mom - thanks for the response. How long ago did you use it? Did you use it with white glossy subway tiles by chance?
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Should the grout be the same color? Not necessarily. Will it look weird to use a darker gray on the floor and a lighter gray in the shower? Not at all. Any recommended colors for the shower and floor tiles along these lines? I've been getting stuff at Lowe's and they carry MAPEI Warm gray for the subway tile, and silver for the hex, if you lke a darker grey for the hex. Silver is actually a medium grey, but it'll appear alot darker with the white tile. Our bathroom isn't perfectly square. I think a colored grout seam that is uneven will be really obvious(that's my understanding where you would do any flubbing). Can you grout just the seam white? Can you skip grout and caulk it? Any suggestions here? Grout everything on the floor the same color. it'll actually show up more if you try doing what you suggested. It'll literally draw attention to it. What you want to dpo is make sure that you're square to the most obvious walls from the door. Especially with the hex, it won't be quite as obvious as you think, unless it's WAY out, and then nothing you can do will hide it, even using a blending color grout. One other thing-- that joint where the floor hits the walls should be caulked, but still caulk it with a caulking that matches the grout, both color AND texture. Does anyone know what the measure is for hex tile and subway? For subway, use unsanded, and for the hex, use sanded.
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kegrant- I too would love to see photos and do post on what you finally decide. I too have simply white cabinets (ikea lidingo) and soapstone counters and am leaning towards white subways with white or possibly silvery gray grout (DH's preference) but everyone who looks at my kitchen says you want to add more white?!?! I am pretty confident I will love the look, but photos are always better. Best of luck to you in your search!
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Thanks oaktown! Those are great pics. I very much appreciate your thoughts! I am reconsidering keeping the concrete floor. But I am worried that the concrete will stain with constant water exposure. Also, if there ever is a water main leak, it might be easier to hide any sawcut marks by replacing tile. The other reason I was thinking of tile, is I want to do the whole house in the new concrete flooring. This will be very expensive and may have to wait for a year. It might put off finishing the bathroom until then, unless I do tile.
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We spoke to the manufacturer and they basically said that this happens and it is the nature of the product. That said, the likely cause was the contractor mixing the new bag I bought with an old bag he had. TEC advised not to use old product or bags that have been open for any length of time. They did suggest using distilled water instead of tap water, but I doubt that was the issue. I made sample boards with tap water and didn’t have any discoloration issues. TEC sent me their grout colorant and I applied 2 coats. This was very tedious and took at least 5 hours for a small powder room to paint every grout line with a tiny brush. However, it did work and nicely covered up the white spots. You can see the painted colorant on the first pic and the pic with the toilet is before the colorant (notice all the white spots). I was very irritated and stressed by all of this, but was relieved the colorant worked and it didn’t have to be retiled.
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kats737
8 years ago
We used tec power grout un sanded dove gray on glossy white subways,. No issues yet. No scratching.

We used maipei white grout on our previous shower and it took about 5 years to start yellowing, but that was with sub-optimal cleaning and hard water.
Ann thanked kats737
cat_mom
8 years ago
Guest bathroom shower surround, glossy white tiles, "regular" TEC grout, 2008 I think.

MB and hall bathroom tub surrounds, glossy white tiles, TEC XT grout, 2011.

No issues. The XT grout doesn't require sealing, but can be, using a solvent based sealer. We have moderately hard water. We wipe down the tub surrounds with a microfiber cloth after showering (to prevent water spots on the glossy tile). I clean the bathrooms pretty much weekly. I spray the tub surrounds with 7th Generation disinfecting bathroom cleaner spray. Let sit a few minutes, and wipe dry with a microfiber cloth. Tile and grout look as they did when first installed.
Ann thanked cat_mom
Ann
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks everyone. I'll be using TEC's sterling, which is a very light grey in our kitchen with 3x6 white subway tiles. For the bathroom, I'm still undecided. Since our reno has been delayed so much, I won't be able to do the kitchen first, so at least I can see what it will look like :(

I have white tiles with white grout now, but they're about 20 years old and looking very yellowy, so that's a given.

I've had to make so many decisions with this kitchen/bath reno that I think my head is going to explode!

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