Grouting floor tile

[PeterT]

I have a large area I am going to grout (new installation), the area includes a front room, foyer area and hall (all interconnected with the same tile & tile layout).

I have some large furniture that I have to deal with, so I would like to grout the large room, move the furniture into that room and finish the foyer. The furniture is currently sitting in the foyer/hall area on the subfloor.

Will the grout be ok, if I do most of the big room on one day, and then pickup and grout the rest a couple days later (after i move the funiture and tile the hall)? Is there anything I should do to make sure the color matches and I have good adhesion on the transition?

 

[Motordoctor]

What kind of grout are you using? Personally I used Fusion Pro on my job, haven't had any issues with the color not matching. Even bought a second container of it, and it matched the first as far as I can tell. It's a little pricey compared to some but I figure it's money well spent. If you don't like doing it the first time, you REALLY will hate doing it over

 

[duneslider]

You shouldn't have issues with color if you are using good technique. Biggest issue with grout is how much water you mix it with and how wet you get it when you wash it.

I would still recommend trying to end at natural breaks in the flooring, like in a doorway or an area that transitions into the next room. This way, if there is a small variation in the color you won't notice. Some grouts do recommend blending the powders of multiple bags together to help ensure the mix is the same but I personally have never had an issue with that.

There are some grouts that are less picky when it comes to how they are washed but 9 out of 10 times if there is an issue with color it has to do with how it was mixed and washed.

 

[Junkman]

I had a tile floor professionally installed about 35 years ago, and the installer grouted the floor in sections. Once he was finished with one section, he sprinkled sawdust on the tire, and proceeded to rub it across the tile. When he was done, he swept the entire floor clean, and there was no grout residue on the tiles. About 10 years later, I did a tile floor in the bathroom, and I did the same thing. It came out perfect. When we built our new home in 1983, I had another tile man do the tile in the front hall, through the kitchen, and then to the garage door. It was a lot of tile, and it took him almost a week to prepare and tile the area. To my surprise, he also used the sawdust method. The only thing that he did differently, was that he put down expanded steel, and nailed it to the subfloor, and then put a skim coat of fine sand mix of concrete for a base. Then he used a mastic that was mixed with a latex product. In the 30 plus years, we have not had one cracked tile, or a tile or grout coming loose. It looks as good today, as the day that he completed it.

 

[duneslider]

I had a tile floor professionally installed about 35 years ago, and the installer grouted the floor in sections. Once he was finished with one section, he sprinkled sawdust on the tire, and proceeded to rub it across the tile. When he was done, he swept the entire floor clean, and there was no grout residue on the tiles. About 10 years later, I did a tile floor in the bathroom, and I did the same thing. It came out perfect. When we built our new home in 1983, I had another tile man do the tile in the front hall, through the kitchen, and then to the garage door. It was a lot of tile, and it took him almost a week to prepare and tile the area. To my surprise, he also used the sawdust method. The only thing that he did differently, was that he put down expanded steel, and nailed it to the subfloor, and then put a skim coat of fine sand mix of concrete for a base. Then he used a mastic that was mixed with a latex product. In the 30 plus years, we have not had one cracked tile, or a tile or grout coming loose. It looks as good today, as the day that he completed it.

You got lucky on the "new jersey mud job". That lath and skim coat is NOT an accepted method and commonly ends in failures.

The saw dust method is pretty old and seems more popular on the east coast. It has to be done right though, if you put it down too early it will get in the grout and if the wrong saw dust is used it can cause coloring issues. It is a great method for getting very full grout joints though. That method should not be attempted with many of the newer blends of grout though as it will not work. Many of the newer grouts require water to clean.