Pebble Tile Accent Grouting?

7 years ago

Hi there! We are having our master bath redone, and have selected a pebble tile as an accent.. The contractor discussed with us grout colors, and we went for white to blend in with the tile on the wall. When they cleaned up the grout, we were left with the stones looking really good, but the grout being very dingy and discolored in some places (first pic).

We brought this to their attention, and was told today that we should've gone with a grey grout, as discoloration is just going to happen, and the grey grout would blend with the stones and hide discoloration. They regrouted (as in put extra grout on top of what was already there), but then told us that we have to live with the amount of grout covering the stones (second pic).

The result is our accent tile looks sloppy and poorly done. Before going back to our contractor, we're trying to gather some ideas as to what should be done and what our options are. Any advice would be much appreciated!

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Comments (2)

MongoCT
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Pebble tile always looks great when you're envisioning in your mind how they will look installed. Way too often though, reality does not meet expectations.

The problem is that any time you have a heavy contrast between stone and grout it's going to accentuate what you have. The high contrast will emphasize good design and workmanship, or it'll make a less-than-stellar installation look even less than less-than-stellar.

The spacing of your individual stones is substantial. Enough to the point where grout doesn't just become an accent to the pebble, it has become a feature of the design alongside the pebble. They have near equal visual weight.

With the pebbles being so defined by the surrounding light grout, the shape of each individual stone is accentuated instead of the field of stone as a whole being part of the design Your eyes stop and focus on each...individual...stone. And because your eyes stop on each...individual...stone? Your brain picks up on each...and...every...flaw.

Regarding your contractor, on the plus side, you had conversations with your installer. You agree to the installation. The end result just didn't look as you'd hoped. You had more conversations, agreed to adjustments, but again the result wasn't as you'd hoped.

Going forward? I think you understand that adding even more grout will simply bury the pebbles even more. You can change the grout color without adding more grout to the installation by using a grout colorant. There are different types of colorants, some are penetrating stains, some are topical epoxies. I'd almost recommend using a charcoal colorant. Dark. You can start with a lighter gray and fo progressively darker is need be.

If you go forward with your current contractor and redo the installation, I'd recommend you find online photos of pebble installations that show what you wan the end result to be. It doesn't have to be an exact match color-wise. You're simply trying to share a visual of what you thought your pebbles and grout would look like.

You may or may not like this pebble floor, is there too much grout? Too much contrast? Or does it appeal to you?

Or is this pebble design more to your liking? It still has a lot of grout, but the color of the grout doesn't contrast as much with the pebble as in the previous photo.

The there is this pebble floor with less grout and less contrast. It shows off the stone more than the grout.

Take those three photos, or search the internet to find ones specific to you, and tell your installer what you like and dislike about each one. That's the best way to home in on what you want. You can simply tell your installer to "Make it look like this. I like this pebble spacing, I like this color, I like this amount of contrast between the pebble and the grout. I really dislike this photo here because..."

Your "easiest" next step is to try a grout colorant. Give the new look time to settle in and adjust as required. If that doesn't bring you satisfaction, I'd start over and hand set each pebble. I'd set the stone closer together to go for more pebble and less grout. But that's an expense that might not be in your budget.

Good luck!
Sonja O thanked MongoCT
mark_rachel
7 years ago
I would first try the grout colorant with a darker gray. If it still doesn't look good, I would just start over.
Sonja O thanked mark_rachel
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