How to Install Sanded Grout
- 1). Let freshly installed tile dry overnight before filling the joints with sanded grout.
- 2). Pry the spacers, if used, from the grout joints with a slotted screwdriver. Some tile setters place spacers at each tile's corners.
- 3). Fill two 5-gallon buckets halfway with water. Set one bucket near the starting point and the other about halfway toward the finishing point. Place a sponge in the first bucket.
- 4). Combine sanded grout and water in a bucket. Mix enough grout in each batch to cover 50 feet of tile, using the grout manufacturer's recommended water-to-grout ratio. Some grout manufacturers recommend using a grout additive in the mixture. Stir the sanded grout and water with a margin trowel until the grout's consistency matches that of butter.
- 5). Dump the bucket of sanded grout on the tile at the starting point.
- 6). Work the sanded grout into the grout joints with a grout float. Push the grout to the bottom of the grout joint with the float's soft pad. Fill the grout joints in a 50-square-foot section.
- 7). Hold the grout float at a 45-degree angle to the tile and use the float's edge to scrape the excess grout off the tile's surface. Place the leftover grout in the mixing bucket for the next batch.
- 8). Pull the sponge out of the bucket of water and wring the water out. Prewash the tile's surface in circular motions with the sponge. The circular motion helps the grout bond to the tile's edges. Clean the sponge repeatedly.
- 9). Wash sanded grout off the tile's surface with a clean, damp sponge. Cross the tile's surface at a 45-degree angle to the grout joints and use straight swipes. Rinse the sponge in the bucket of water after each pass of the sponge. Clean all of the grouted area using this method.
- 10
Continue to grout and wash 50-square-foot sections of tile at a time, using the same method used on the first 50-foot section. Rotate buckets of water between batches. - 11
Let the grout dry for 24 hours before washing the tile.
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