Help!: What's the secret........

[kkelly77]

.......to perfect grout lines? I've finished my grouting of the bathroom. It's good but not great . What's the secret to perfect grout lines?!!

K

[Dave]

Flat tiling.. and leaving the grout joints to set up a bit before washing off..

Washing off to early can rub grout from within the grout line.. hollow joints look awful..

[connelltiling]

As Dave's advice - and DON'T be tempted to rub the grout lines with those flipping plastic "grout finishers" they sell in DIY stores.

[SandyFloor]

Don't run your sponge along the grout line or it will wash some of it out leaving it inconsistent .About 45 degrees across it for me.

[kkelly77]

Flat tiling.. and leaving the grout joints to set up a bit before washing off..

Washing off to early can rub grout from within the grout line.. hollow joints look awful..

The walls I was working off were anything but flat. Might explain why the lines aren't 100% (Yeah! It's the walls' fault )

[kkelly77]

As Dave's advice - and DON'T be tempted to rub the grout lines with those flipping plastic "grout finishers" they sell in DIY stores.

Steered clear of them

Don't run your sponge along the grout line or it will wash some of it out leaving it inconsistent .About 45 degrees across it for me.

I used a diagonal wiping motion after checking out a YouTube video on grouting prior to starting

[Dave]

Uneven tiles will not be good.. a Good grouting job can tidy a bad'ish wall up but best to get it right to start with.. but saying that a rubbish grout job can ruin a nice tiling job..

It is always best to take your time and not over wash till the grout sets up..

[Dan]

You should first start off with a 45degree angle to wash off the access grout on the tile, and then with a clean sponge use all 6 side (most people use 4, don't know why?! - they do have ends too ) to lightly go down the joints once they've set a bit as dave says.

No matter how they look after you've done it all, always quickly scan over it afterwards and correct any tiny pin holes, high joints that have set a bit too much or low joints that you've washed out too quickly.

Pay extra attention to behind pedestals, loo's, corners, etc and NOT LESS because you think they can't see it.

It's a shame to spend days tiling a room and hours grouting it badly and the job looks rubbish just because of a few small errors in grouting. I know the cheque is being written out in 20 minutes time but it'll still get written out in an hours time.