Grout Colouring

A homeowner from Appleby had been in touch about their recently laid Porcelain tiled floor of approximately 20m2 in size which ran through the kitchen and adjacent utility room. The tiles resembled Terracotta but being Porcelain meant they were much easier to clean and didn’t require a sealer.

The Grout however was a different matter; the tiler had used a Sandstone coloured grout and had been badly affected by the use of strong cleaning products which damaged the grout and made it more vulnerable to ingrained dirt. The grout had quickly darkened and become patchy bringing down the overall appearance of the floor.

Even washing up liquid is acidic and can damage the grout causing it to attract more dirt and id sealed prematurely degrade the sealer. This is why we always recommend the use of a neutral tile cleaner for the regular cleaning of tiled floors.

To resolve I recommended deep cleaning the floor and then applying an epoxy Grout Colouring product that would restore the appearance of the grout. Available in eleven colours these colourants are very reliable recolouring, sealing in the grout and generally rejuvenating the grout joints.

The customer was unsure which colour of colourant they wanted however I had some left-over colourants on my van so I applied a few different ones to their floor to help them decide. Happy with the plan and quote a date was agreed to do the work which would only take one day.

Applying Grout Colourant to a Porcelain Tiled Floor

The first job was to give the floor a good scrub using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner worked in with a rotary machine fitted with a Silicon Carbide Brush. This bristles on this brush are very hard wearing and get into the grout lines. The soiling from the cleaning was then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Next a Pre-Treater cleaner was sprayed onto the grout and left to soak in for several minutes before being scrubbed in with a stiff hand brush. This gets the grout as clean as it can be and also etches the grout so it forms a stronger bond with the grout colourant which would be applied next. Once the cleaning of the Pre Treater was completed the tiles were rinsed with water then a wet vacuum was used to remove the wet solution and then force dried using floor fans.

The selected colourant was Light Grey and two coats needed to be painted onto the grout to ensure a consistent appearance. The process is quite simple although time consuming and involves painting the colourant onto the grout line with a small brush and then wiping any excess of the adjacent tile before it sets.

Once all the grout had been coloured and set the floor was given a quick polish with a soft white buffing pad fitted to the rotary machine. When finished the floor was transformed and the light grey colour brought out the warmer colour of the Terracotta Porcelain.

The customer was very happy with the finish and before leaving I encouraged them to avoid the use of steam cleaners and only to use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for maintenance cleaning going forward.