Mapei Grout

[Minnie]

I have a 2KG bag of white grout. The packet says "whilst stirring with a low speed mechanical mixer" (that would be my arm then) pour into a clean, rust-free container, containing 0.40-0.46 litres of clean water"

Now I don't want to use all the grout now, and 0.40-0.46 seems a very exact measure.

I take it 1kg would mean 0.20-0.23 of water? Does it have to be that exact?

They obviously expect everyone to do all their grouting at once.

It also says to remove 2/3 of adhesive between the tiles. That's going to be fun with the mosaics.

 

[kilty55]

minnie im going to give you my honest opinion on this,and that is i would advise you not to use mapei white grout,,all there other grouts have been great for me but the white does not come out a good clean white colour,,there has been a thread about this recently on the forum if you wish to go look it up.

i know you have asked tonnes of questions doing this project and would not like to see the end result ruined for you,my advice on this occasion is to buy a diff brand

 

[Minnie]

minnie im going to give you my honest opinion on this,and that is i would advise you not to use mapei white grout,,all there other grouts have been great for me but the white does not come out a good clean white colour,,there has been a thread about this recently on the forum if you wish to go look it up.

i know you have asked tonnes of questions doing this project and would not like to see the end result ruined for you,my advice on this occasion is to buy a diff brand

oh dear, sorry I've not looked but problems with my modem so whilst I'm normally good at looking things up, haven't been able to for the past few months.

I'd already bought it from Tile Magic. They're not open again until 27th. Hope they won't be ****ed off with me returning it.

I'm even wondering whether to go for white as it will show up all my uneven grout lines :lol:

Different brand as in BAL? Will check later. Got to do tea and have a bath in a nice clean bathroom. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Minnie]

Grey?! :yikes::yikes::yikes:

 

[Deleted member 9966]

I can vouch for it being grey :mad2:

 

[Minnie]

I can vouch for it being grey :mad2:

Oh poor you. Was it on your bathroom you just completed?

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Oh poor you. Was it on your bathroom you just completed?

yep

 

[Minnie]

yep

Did you have to rake it all out and start again then? What did you use?

I saw you mention something on the other thread but can't remember the name of it. It had a U in it I think!

 

[Deleted member 9966]

I've left the walls, and I've now got a bottle of Mapei fuga fresco which is a colourant, so I'll just whiten the grout with that. But around the sink splashback I used a tub of ready mixed unibond grout from a diy shop 😳

 

[Daz]

I didn't see the previous thread regarding "grey" white grout, but my experience has always been good with Mapei white grout.

If you follow the instructions on the bag for mixing and application then all should be fine IMO. The first time I used it, I did think it was grey'ish but once it had fully dried, it came up brilliant white :smilewinkgrin:.

You need to ensure that the grout joints are free of adhesive so that there is no contamination of the grout (& colour) as well as having an even channel to apply the grout into. If there is adhesive in the joint it will show proud of the grouting and therefore what does it matter what colour grout you use, it will always look patchy and rough.

What adhesive did you use and when did you finish sticking the tiles? You don't want to grout too soon and naff things up either.

 

[Minnie]

I've left the walls, and I've now got a bottle of Mapei fuga fresco which is a colourant, so I'll just whiten the grout with that. But around the sink splashback I used a tub of ready mixed unibond grout from a diy shop 😳

Why the oops? Because you used ready-mixed grout?

I never knew there was ready-mixed grout. Wonder why they offered me the powdered stuff?

 

[Minnie]

I didn't see the previous thread regarding "grey" white grout, but my experience has always been good with Mapei white grout.

If you follow the instructions on the bag for mixing and application then all should be fine IMO. The first time I used it, I did think it was grey'ish but once it had fully dried, it came up brilliant white :smilewinkgrin:.

You need to ensure that the grout joints are free of adhesive so that there is no contamination of the grout (& colour) as well as having an even channel to apply the grout into. If there is adhesive in the joint it will show proud of the grouting and therefore what does it matter what colour grout you use, it will always look patchy and rough.

What adhesive did you use and when did you finish sticking the tiles? You don't want to grout too soon and naff things up either.

I used Mapei ready-mix and I've got mosaics and the adhesive went absolutely everywhere so there's absolutely no way my joints are going to be adhesive free.

As for an even channel, I assume you mean the grout lines?

erm, not a chance!

 

[Minnie]

I didn't see the previous thread regarding "grey" white grout, but my experience has always been good with Mapei white grout.

If you follow the instructions on the bag for mixing and application then all should be fine IMO. The first time I used it, I did think it was grey'ish but once it had fully dried, it came up brilliant white :smilewinkgrin:.

You need to ensure that the grout joints are free of adhesive so that there is no contamination of the grout (& colour) as well as having an even channel to apply the grout into. If there is adhesive in the joint it will show proud of the grouting and therefore what does it matter what colour grout you use, it will always look patchy and rough.

What adhesive did you use and when did you finish sticking the tiles? You don't want to grout too soon and naff things up either.

I used Mapei ready-mix and I've got mosaics and the adhesive went absolutely everywhere so there's absolutely no way my joints are going to be adhesive free.

 

[Daz]

I used Mapei ready-mix and I've got mosaics and the adhesive went absolutely everywhere so there's absolutely no way my joints are going to be adhesive free.

Minnie, you really need to rake out the excess adhesive as much as possible. If you don't, your grout will be uneven and dis-coloured.

 

[tfs]

the Mapei keracolor SF grout gives a better finnish than the ultra colour white but, it can only be used for joints up to 4mm

 

[tfs]

this SF does take much longer to set though.

 

[tfs]

I didn't see the previous thread regarding "grey" white grout, but my experience has always been good with Mapei white grout.

If you follow the instructions on the bag for mixing and application then all should be fine IMO. The first time I used it, I did think it was grey'ish but once it had fully dried, it came up brilliant white :smilewinkgrin:.

You need to ensure that the grout joints are free of adhesive so that there is no contamination of the grout (& colour) as well as having an even channel to apply the grout into. If there is adhesive in the joint it will show proud of the grouting and therefore what does it matter what colour grout you use, it will always look patchy and rough.

What adhesive did you use and when did you finish sticking the tiles? You don't want to grout too soon and naff things up either.

Agree 100% with this comment

Also minnie, it is good practice to remove any ribs of adhesive rising between grout joints. Not everyone does this but it is worthwhile.

 

[Minnie]

Minnie, you really need to rake out the excess adhesive as much as possible. If you don't, your grout will be uneven and dis-coloured.

Yeah I know that, I was at it a couple of hours after it had dried on some of the mosaics but others I let dry completely. Tried going at it with a stanley knife but it's too thin. Maybe I should buy one of those raking tools so I can hack it out better?

 

[Minnie]

the Mapei keracolor SF grout gives a better finnish than the ultra colour white but, it can only be used for joints up to 4mm

Unfortunately, some of my screws are a bit on the wide side :lol:

 

[Minnie]

Agree 100% with this comment

Also minnie, it is good practice to remove any ribs of adhesive rising between grout joints. Not everyone does this but it is worthwhile.

Not sure what ribs are, but I don't have any adhesive standing proud of the tiles, but there's plenty of adhesive that needs to be removed from the mosaics.

I had planned on removing that tomorrow but I don't think I'll have time, so it'll probably be the day after.

Anyway, happy Christmas all. I'll leave you alone for a whole day to give you all a rest. :smilewinkgrin:

Although nobody's actually suggested which grout I should go for instead?

 

[Daz]

Enjoy your Christmas Minnie.
The Mapei grout is fine as long as you follow the instructions on the bag. If you choose to use BAL, then make sure you purchase "Brilliant white Microban". You need to mix and use as per their instructions too!

 

[hillhead]

What colour is the adhesive minnie?
i love grouting mosaics:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Minnie]

Enjoy your Christmas Minnie.
The Mapei grout is fine as long as you follow the instructions on the bag. If you choose to use BAL, then make sure you purchase "Brilliant white Microban". You need to mix and use as per their instructions too!

I don't want to end up with grey grout and there's no way I'm going to be able to get all the adhesive out from between the mosaics so maybe I'm better off going for the BAL.

The adhesive is erm, I dunno, sort of like Polyfilla colour :lol:

If you asked me to describe Polyfilla colour I'd be stuck. It's not pink, it's not grey, it's er....

 

[Minnie]

i love grouting mosaics:smilewinkgrin:

Oh really? Ever been to the finer parts of Brixton? :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Daz]

Oh really? Ever been to the finer parts of Brixton? :smilewinkgrin:

LMAO.

It doesn't matter whether you use BAL, Mapei or any other manufacturer, if you don't clean the joints, the grout will look ropey.

 

[hillhead]

Oh really? Ever been to the finer parts of Brixton? :smilewinkgrin:

No minnie,lol.
us tilers do have to keep joints clean as we go! get a good stanley blade and scrape out the high bits of adhesive

 

[Minnie]

LMAO.

It doesn't matter whether you use BAL, Mapei or any other manufacturer, if you don't clean the joints, the grout will look ropey.

Oi, Brixton's got some very nice areas you know :incazzato:

Not many, but erm....

right, where were we? :lol:

The field tiles are pretty clean (if a bit uneven), but the mosaics need some serious work. I thought I'd try to hack them out with a stanley then try to sandpaper the remnants out

 

[Minnie]

No minnie,lol.
us tilers do have to keep joints clean as we go! get a good stanley blade and scrape out the high bits of adhesive

Unfortunately, b/f wanted to help me out occasionally, and as much as I told him to try to keep the adhesive away from the edges, he forgot :lol:

 

[hillhead]

At least you's are havin fun,:lol::lol:

 

[Minnie]

At least you's are havin fun,:lol::lol:

I'd have more fun taking a hammer to the whole lot than trying to rake out mosaic joints :lol:

 

[hillhead]

i had to remove mosaics once last year(customer hadn't enough of right colour,and couldn't get more).

wow,pain in rear there,i had stuck them on with a top quality bagged adhesive!!
took a lot of work to remove.