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How to Grout a Tile Backsplash
By Youri Naimark
You might think that the tough stuff is done when you place the tile you chose for your new backsplash—think again! Picking the grout color and ensuring that it is properly applied is a very important step in installing a new tile backsplash. Choosing the color will make as much of a mark on your kitchen as the tile will—so pick something that will complement your new kitchen’s best features without downplaying the rest. Once you’ve chosen, follow these steps carefully to ensure that your tile is properly protected and the job is complete. 1. Be sure to protect your countertops. Lay some rosin paper to cover the entire counter, taping it with blue painters tape to the bottom of the tile surface you are grouting. 2. Choose a modified grout. Modified grout has polymers in it that help prevent shrinking and cracking, so your work shouldn’t need to be redone until the house is torn down! 3. Prepare your grout. In a large bucket, pour in enough powdered grout for you to use in an hour’s time, though not more. Check the back of the grout package to see exactly how much water is necessary for the amount you are mixing, and follow the directions. Mix everything with a paddle mixer attachment for a drill, and keep the drill on a lower setting. You don’t want to liquefy the mixture! Then allow the grout to rest and thicken—called “slating”—for about ten minutes. Then stir the grout again until it reaches a peanut butter-like consistency. 4. Push the grout into the spaces between your tiles. Using a float—a flat tool with a handle—smear the grout on the tiles at a 45-degree angle. Push with some strength—you really want to make sure that the grout makes it to the bottom of the spaces. Use a margin float—a smaller version of the same tool you used before—to add grout to tiles close to the edge or in hard-to-reach places. If you run out of grout, just mix more—but remember where you stopped and treat the two places as different surfaces. And don’t worry if you get grout all over your tile, because you will—it comes off with water at a later step. 5. Let the grout set for 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t do anything to it while it is setting—don’t add more, don’t wipe the grout off the tile, don’t touch. This setting process is an important part of the grout’s strengthening. 6. Now you can wipe away the excess grout. Take a damp sponge and wipe the tiles at a 45-degree angle to the grout joints. Wash and squeeze out the sponge between each wipe to ensure that the tile gets as clean as possible as fast as possible. Be very, very careful not to pull any grout out from the joints. Once you have cleaned away all of the excess grout, you will have a completed tile surface! Few things complement a kitchen as well as a beautiful backsplash, so take your time and your efforts will not go unrewarded. Learn more great tips on home improvement directly from our website at www.DenversTileInstallation.com, just click through to the blog when you get there.
Born and raised in Ukraine, Youri Naimark was an construction engineer for 20 years (specializing in coal mine construction). In that time Youri oversaw major projects and won several State-level awards. After moving to US in 2002, Youri scaled down and started a Denver tile installation company. Since then Youri's company has become a boutique home improvement firm. Youri has been publishing articles related to home improvement for over 3 years and recently he started a blog dedicated to proper home improvement practices and some Do-It-Yourself tips, which can be found at denverstileinstallation.com/blog.
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http://denverstileinstallation.com/
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I was on a job once where the counter top and back splash was absolute black granite. The woman came to grout the back splash that she had installed the day before and found the paint that the back splash was stuck to let go. The thin set worked great but the paint on the bead board let the thin set go. What a mess.
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