If your tiled room is beautiful except for dingy tile grout, you might want to look into using a grout colorant to make the whole room look better. Your tiled floors will be so much more attractive if you had used a different color grout than off-white. But who wants to remove all the grout and start over? That’s a lot of work on a job that has already taken a lot of work to start with.
The solution is simple – you can restore your grout to a uniform, attractive color by applying a colorant that’s made specifically for grout. It’s also known as grout paint, and you can purchase various pre-mixed colors and some custom blended colors. The colorant products made today are easily applied, they look great, and they can last up to fifteen years.
Using a colorant on old and dingy grout can show off the room the way you’d like it to look. It still retains its look as actual grout, so the tiled floor won’t look like a laminate. Preparing and applying grout coloring is different than just painting a wall. You’ll still want to use a brush, and you can do it easily as long as you are comfortable kneeling for a prolonged period of time. If you’re using grout colorant on a large room, you may be kneeling for hours! It’s not as easy as it sounds. You’ll also need a good dose of patience, and be sure to follow all the label instructions on the product you choose.
Every different brand of colorant for grout may have different instructions, so choose the brand first. The things that vary between brands include waiting time, drying time and methods of application.
There are various types of grout coloring that experts will recommend, depending on the experience they have had with the product. A tile layer has probably used many different kinds of coloring for grout, and will know which ones are easiest to apply, and which ones yield the best results. Most professionals use a product that doesn’t take a long time to dry. But in some jobs, it’s actually beneficial to have a slower drying product. Some brands of grout coloring may require that you finish applying the product and clean-up within the space of an hour. This is not always possible, if you’re working on a larger room.
You’ll want to inspect your floor first, and replace any old grout that is broken down. Don’t wait until coloration is done to make repairs. Do them first. If the colorant you apply doesn’t precisely match the shade on the floor, you don’t need to worry – your new color should show up when everything dries.
If your floor is terrazzo or natural stone, or another unglazed tile, be sure to seal it before you color the grout. Grout coloring can stain the flooring permanently. A fresh coat of sealant may make the grout coloration stick less easily to your grout, so you may have to be patient and go from one tile to the next. Here is one case where you don’t want a fast-drying grout colorant.