The Back Splash Is Grouted!

There is still so much to be done in here. But the tile is finished! We used a deep grey color grout, that we mixed ourselves. We had bright white and black on hand, and used 1 part white to 2 parts black. Its still deep without being stark, almost a very soft black. I love it. I stayed away from all white grout knowing how I cook, there would be stains everywhere. I got better things to do that scrub stains all day, HA! Here are the after pictures of the grout.

Keep in mind the floors, trim and touch up paint still needs to be done.

Looking in from the formal dining room

My Grandma painted this, I love the way it looks in here.

A Quick How to/How We Did.

A list of things you are going to need

Well, what we used anyhow. In no particular order.

1. Tile. Duh

2. Mortar

3. Grout

3. Long Level Tool

3. Edge Straight

4. Tile saw/wet saw.

5. 2 Buckets. One for Mortar, one for clean water to rinse your hands. You don’t want mortar clogging your pipes.

6. Safety Glasses. Sharps slivers of tile are going to be flying from the saw.

7. Face mask for mixing the mortar. Bad stuff for your lungs

8. Notched Trowel (Size depends on the tile size you are putting up)

9. Trowel for scooping mortar onto the notched trowel. (We used a small garden trowel)

10. Towels for drying tile after cuts, and for hands.

11. Spacers (We didn’t use any this time)

12. Grout Float

13. Pencil for marking level, and tile for cuts.

14. Drill and attachment for mixing mortar.

Make sure you have all things you will need handy. Follow all directions on your mortar package. When your mix is ready it should be the consistency of peanut butter. Mixing with a drill will save your back and arms one hard workout mixing that stuff.

Sand the walls, and give the paint a good, rough feeling so the motor can adhere.

Make sure before you do anything, mark level, and center on the wall to keep the tile looking neat and not sloppy. If one row is off, its only going to look worse the more you add on. Get that first row level and straight, and your good to go!

We put up a board to keep everything just right.

I buttered up the wall with the mortar, and put the tiles up while he cut. I rather enjoyed this part. Sure it was messy, But fun! I also back buttered tile that was in an awkward spot, this way I could get the right amount on the tile and will without trashing the cabinet paint.

Here is a check list of what you are going to need for grouting.

1. Grout

2. 2 Buckets

3. Water

4. Mixer (Hand or drill attachment)

5. Grout float

6. Sponges

7. Rags for clean up

8. Grout sealer.

9. Putty Knife

Clean out any debris in between your tile. You do not want little mortar chunklets mixing in with your grout. Also make sure you have wiped clean all the tiles. You never know where your mortar covered hands were.

Make sure you add the water to the bucket first. Mix it smooth and let it sit for 10 minutes, then mix again after that. As always follow the instructions on your bag o mix. We mixed the white and black we had together to make a deep grey color.

Then you want to take the putty knife and spread some grout onto your grout float. Make sure you have a decent amount. Push into the cracks at a 45* angle, make sure you get it all in, and there are no gaps, or empty spots. pack it in! Packed in, no gaps, or empty spots. The grout keeps the water out from behind the tiles and off the mortar. If you have spots that are not filled/packed in, there is a higher chance of water getting behind the tile, wetting the mortar causing problems such as mold, and tiles becoming lose. You don’t want that!!!

The wall the husband grouted

Let the grout set for 15 minutes, or what your bag says.

Don’t push super hard! You do not want the grout in the crack being stripped off! Just lightly wax on, wax off, with a damp sponge. Ours was so stuck on, we had to work for a few hours getting it off. What a bad morning that was. Ugh.

Leave it alone for a while, then come back over it with cheese cloth. As we didn’t have any, it was almost dry sponges over, and over, until the hazy glaze is no more.

Then you got something like this once its all cleaned up

In a few days you need to go over the grout with your sealer. That is it. One weekend

Water first

May 14, 2012 | Categories: kitchen, Tile | Tags: how to, How to tile and grout a back splash | Leave a comment

The kitchen is so close to done! I cannot believe it! We tiled the back splash over the weekend, and finished filling in the top row, and all them tiny cuts this morning. Just need to grout, and lay the composite trim Then it is just flooring! I will be posting really soon on how to, as well as some moe pictures

As for the grout, I am more than conflicted on what to do! Do I go with a white, that will show grime and stains over time, needing ‘deep’ cleaning once a year. But is a classic choice for most people, providing a seamless look. At the same time, from a distance, it just looks like the wall is done in a white gloss paint.

Or do I go with a less conventional choice and use a dark grout with my white tiles? I have really fallen in love with the idea of dark. I love the way they look now with the deep crevices, from a distance, looking like black grout lines. But I am scared it will look obnoxious. Unlike the picture bellow, our tiles are very close. We even skipped the spacers, to get smaller grout lines.