First epoxy grout job

[grumpygrouter]

I recently completed my first epoxy grouting job. I have to say I found the experience quite a good one to be honest.

I used BAL Easypoxy in white and contrary to my expectations, I found it easy to use and quite easy to clean off, with only a minor amount of emulsifying to do the next day to clean off the bits I had missed first time around.

I have put a couple of pics in my floor gallery if anybody wants to have a nosey at what it came out like.

 

[faithhealer]

Only done a small area so far in epoxy, paid about a tenner for a kg. must work out pricey for even a splashback type area? How much did you mix / grout at a time russ

 

[grumpygrouter]

Only done a small area so far in epoxy, paid about a tenner for a kg. must work out pricey for even a splashback type area? How much did you mix / grout at a time russ

I mixed 1kg at a time, sadly I miscalculated the requirements slightly because of the tile thickness/adhesive depth and was actually 2 tiles short and I had allowed 2 tubs. Needed to get a third tub for the last bit which meant there was quite a bit of waste from the last tub.

I was paid handsomely for the grouting bit!!

 

[White Room]

What made them go for the epoxy grout Russ

 

[grumpygrouter]

What made them go for the epoxy grout Russ

Me! The customer was insistant he wanted white grout on the floor so I told him because it would look grubby in no time, that epoxy was the way to go because it is much easier to keep clean. Told him I wasn't going to use normal white on the floor so if he wanted white it was going to be epoxy....and it would be more expensive!

 

[White Room]

At least they took good advise and won't be dissapointed

 

[faithhealer]

I've got a couple of small en suites to do but they want the floors in 1inch mosaics, daren't think how much the grout would cost them in epoxy!!

 

[Alberta Stone]

I've got one to do later this week in biscuit color using mapei kerepoxy.
​

 

[White Room]

Interesting to know what you think of it Alberta

 

[BDS]

never used epoxy grout yet,is it hard to use as i`ve been informed or is the easypoxy stuff better

 

[Alberta Stone]

Change your water often, use lots...you don't have to be shy with it like portland grout, do small batchs at a time and you will love it.
They even have an epoxy haze remover which you use the next day to clean things to perfection.
I like it, as when you wash out a bit much, you can go back, fill it flush and it actually sticks to itself, unlike portland grout which doesn't do that trick very well.

 

[grumpygrouter]

never used epoxy grout yet,is it hard to use as i`ve been informed or is the easypoxy stuff better

I was given horror stories about it too. I didn't find it very difficult. You need to work a bit harder to push the stuff into the joint and I mixed a tub at a time (1kg) and applied it. Cleaning off was really quite straight forward and I used 2 buckets of hot water. 1 for the initial clean and the second to go over. Usual grout clean off procedure except that you need to use an emusifying pad first for your initial "cut" then 1 wipe with the sponge, turn over and second wipe. Clean sponge in bucket 1 final rinse in bucket 2 and clean same area again. I had very little to do the next day to finish of with any haze that I had missed. No wash boy in this procedure!

Only thing I was a little surprised about was that the grout was not fully hard after about 22hrs. It was still rubbery. Really, to avoid any contamination, the area needs to be left well alone for at least 24hrs so the stuff hardens off properly.

 

[faithhealer]

Did you achieve a smooth finish Russ, the finish wasn't perfect on my 'test area'.

 

[grumpygrouter]

Did you achieve a smooth finish Russ, the finish wasn't perfect on my 'test area'.

Yes, it wasn't too bad, though not as smooth as you would get with a fine wall grout for instance.

 

[Alberta Stone]

With the kerepoxy they say to make sure that no dust or construction debris gets into the grout for 7 days and that it fully cures in a month.
Portland is much faster, but the results are not as long lasting.

 

[LM Ceramics]

only ever used it once on a school kitchen when i was an apprentice i found it a pain to use i was warned about the dangers of it had i not used gloves and stupid me didnt went to the toilet had a wee and the day after it was abit sore down there i was warned but didnt take any notice at the time

 

[Spud]

I finished this one on saturday grouted with starlike bianco ghaccio epoxy really couldnt believe how much epoxy has improved and the best part is it does not discolour like cement grout i think it is the cleaners that have improved rather than the grout but whatever it is i will be using it a lot more often

 

[andy-p]

gary that floor is mint my son !! talking about epoxy , i remember grouting over 100m2 of quarry tiles at a bottling plant with black epoxy grout !! me and another apprentice got stuck with this glorious task ,it was a goddamn nightmare!! if i remember right i think we could only manage about 10m2 a day ... :dizzy2:

 

[burncross]

gary,that floor looks the business!! you must have been pleased with that finish. :rockon:

 

[wayne]

used it all the time on industrial jobs. used to use green pads to emulsyfy then a large rag to draw the water off. took some getting used to but came off in one sweep with the rag.

 

[CBTC]

First epoxy job huh Grumpy; now you're really tiling! I've just had a day of it today. Still remember my first time many moons ago - it was v tricky then. The coming thing is Spectralock from Laticrete. V expensive, but almost as easy to use as mortar. With the increasing amount of specifiaction of resinous grouts to be used, one day it will be the norm. Anyone else had the pleasure?

 

[Alberta Stone]

Finished our last job off with kerepoxy.
It has been changed from the last time I used it as the grit and part A are premixed, you just add part B.
Big kits are cheaper to buy and if you are careful you can split them down even into 1/8 portions with no problem.
The epoxy sponge from mapei is an excellent tool, but wears out fairly fast.

It was a bit cold and so I found that the floor needed 2 passes in many places due to slumping, but no problems other than more effort required.