I wish I had gone with my gut and used what we‘ve always used in the past. we went on the contractors recommendation. We used this on a newly tiled shower floor as well as the walls. I noticed a bad smell (not sewer gas) every night the contractors left. Its hard to describe. i assumed it was something in the mortar? We let this cure for 4 days. The smell was on and off and didnt have to do with a dry shower. Big thing I noticed was that the grout seemed to absorb the water. It turned from a light to a dark grey when wet. You shouldnt have to seal this Read the bag. Sealant not needed Same with our ceramic tiles our other grout does NOT turn color nor does the caulk This worried me then that the water is going through and under the tiles How would this NOT cause mildew and mold down the line? i just looked on Menards site and thought it very odd they dont gave reviews by their products. How many of us read and rely on those? I talked to a seasoned tiler now retired and working at Menards who insisted that yes, it is sealed. What i see and what Im hearing seem to be two different things This morning, 11 hours after the last shower, there was still some darkening around the drain Standing water underneath? Who knows. This shower is just over a week in use and I dont see a good outcome. I highly recommend using something else. For the floor, especially. Note in the picture the darker grout near the drain. When wet, it all turns this dark grey. My big question - why does it seem to be absorbing water if its a sealed product? And what is the ’stale’ smell that comes and goes? Yes, I always leave the bathroom fan running after a shower And again, this is 11 hours after using the shower

Thank you Jerry, I really appreciate you replying. I have decided to pay the 10% restocking fee for the TEC XT grout (after the 25% off and before the 7% sales tax it came to $36.71 for their stain resistant enhanced grout that is not an Epoxy. I will then drive a few miles farther down the highway and go to Lowe's and buy the SpectraLOCK Mushroom grout that I wanted but the former installer just wanted to use what was at the local tile store where I bought the Akoya Bone Tiles. I heard I need lots of sponges. What sponges are best so there will be clean ones here for him to use since I want the color to be true? The new installer says he can pick up glue and I do not need to buy more of the Adhese-SuperflexW Tile & Stone Mortars, 50 Lb Super Flext White (says this on the package so has abbreviations.. is in my cold garage right now....$42.74 after the 25% off I paid and before the sales tax). I was told the glue I had bought was a special Latex Glue. How can the installer mix glues since I have so much of this bag left over? What glue should we use since I have a cement floor due to the fact that I live in a townhouse with no basement. All this stress due to the first lot of the Rialto Beige tiles being sold out so I found a tile that looked just like that lighter color I wanted. I would have just asked Lowe's and bought what glue they told me but I can't return opened dry glue so now I have this bag here. I have to put an Estate on extension today and get these holiday cards out as well as close a few corporations. I am so behind in my work since I want my two foyer areas to look nice. I wish you lived near me Jerry so you could do this tile job for me and it would have been done months ago and I would not be behind in my work.

kats737 - we used the same color Tec Power Grout (professionally installed) in our shower and in our mosaic tile floor. We are having the same issue you mentioned above (being able to scrape the grout out of joint line with a fingernail when wet). In the shower, it's actually just dissolving when wet and we've decided it has to be replaced. But it would be a HUGE pain to remove it from the mosaic tile floor. The floor grout seems a little harder, but I can still scratch it out with a fingernail when it gets wet a month after install. Did yours actually harden over time? How long did it take? Thanks.

I don't think the cleaning aspect is what you should focus on. White may show some splashes more, but it cleans up. I did seal mine and I have no idea if that helped or not but I've wiped several day old tomato sauce off it with no problem. I'd focus more on the look you like best. I know you said you like both but which do you like more? With those lovely marble counters you have I'd be tempted to keep them the focus. If you're picking a simple white subway backsplash because you way to keep that marble the focus then even a light grout line with 3 by 6 subway may not serve that goal. I like the clean look of white or very light grout myself.