Avoiding bathroom grout staining and related problems

[johnagall]

Im crap at DIY but I'm about to get stuff cracking in our bathroom and want to get things right.

I'm buying materials and getting in trades separately to manage costs.

I understand that a general rule is to try and use large tiles to minimise the amount of grout and therefore maintenance but the mrs is adamant on white metro wall tiles. This will be tiled just around the bath approx 8m2.

Anyway I thought I had a brain wave when I saw these exact tiles on the Paris metro last week and the grout was filthy. I was wondering if I could get some grey / light black grout and use that instead of white grout.

Grey is the colour that the mrs has chosen for accessories in the bathroom so the contrast would look good but would it mean that there is minimal maintenance to keep it in good nick?

 

[Maxsys]

Grey will be fine if it will match everything elkse, just make sure your trade man uses a decent brand, like BAL or Mapei Ultracolour

Plus, if you really don't want any grout maintenance get your man to use epoxy, no issues then. Have a read around the tiling forum, you will see plenty of advice on this very subject.

 

[tpt]

if you want to use white, use a good quality one with a mould inhibitor such as granfix maxi grout and consider sealing it. Should give you years of trouble free whiteness.

if you have a shower over it that can cause it to yellow off quicker.

If you dont have the tiles yet i can help you with tiles and adh\grout.

 

[johnagall]

Thanks for the response mate. We do have a shower of the bath that is used twice a day so yellowing will be very quick i'm sure.

In terms of using a coloured grout - will the colour stop the yellowing all together? Because the metro tiles are so small there will be quite an area of grout and I want to keep maintenance to a minimum.

What help can you give with tiles etc mate?

 

[tpt]

the reason grey is usually pushed is it doesnt contain any dye, its the natural cement colour so doesnt discolour - it will still get dirty! and a lot of the newer grey grouts are actually dyed that way and as such are just as bad.

You can get a bigger metro - we do a 300x100, but obviously it still has joints, just less of them!

Epoxy definitely will not stain or discolour but its expensive and can be a pig to apply - especially on high gloss tiles. If you were to use something like maxi-grout and then seal it it should last a good while, but basically those are your two choices, epoxy or a good microporous grout and sealer. Grey\colours wont really help you.

i meant i can sell them to you it was a blatant plug! if you want a quote just pm me or email me and include your postcode for delivery

 

[johnagall]

Is there any chance of getting a sample of the 300 white metro?

As an aside I did wonder, if I went for normal grout with a sealer and started to get staining issues, is it a case of removing the grout and re-doing? Is this easy enough to do?

 

[tpt]

yes no problem. give me your name and address and i'll send a sample to you. you can send me a personal message or send me a direct email.

Regrouting is never an easy job, you have to rake out first and it takes a long while, the new more modern grouts are pretty good at resisting permanent staining though.

 

[tpt]

they are a little more expensive than the smaller metro sizes (which we also have) but heres a link to the tile. you can use the contact us link to email your address if you wish.

Large metro bevelled tiles

 

[johnagall]

Did you get my PM?

 

[tpt]

Yep just got it. i'll send all 3. in the interests of cost and ability to use normal post we usually post a cut sample of larger tiles, so in the case of the larger metro we would send a half tile - this is usually fine to check colour\texture and shape. the other 2 will be full tiles.

this was the grout i was referring to:
http://www.tradepricetiles.co.uk/adhesives-grouts/grout/granfix-hygienic-maxigrout-white.html

 

[tpt]

Those samples will be in the post to you tomorrow morning.