How to make a tile seam. Grouting ceramic tiles: we figure out what and how to properly grout the seams. What is a grout bag
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In every building supermarket or market, you can easily purchase a suitable design and color, and depending on the operating conditions of the tiled surface, grout for joints.
Grout mixture (fugue) is designed to fill tile joints
The choice, in fact, is quite large. There are different manufacturers, a wide range of colors, fugues that differ in composition and purpose, ready-to-use formulations and mixtures that require preparation. In general, it is possible to choose the right grout for each specific case of tiling a room.
After all, the fugue, in addition to strength, must also have good water resistance, and, of course, emphasize the advantages of the tile. And so, you already understood that you can buy any suitable composition, but the purpose of the article is different. We will talk about how to make a fugue correctly, and how to dilute the grout so that it lasts a long time without burdening you with additional care for the seams.
Common prefabricated fugues
The retail trade network offers two types of grout mixtures:
Cement
Long known, most often used fugues. The basis, as the name implies, is finely ground cement, and fine sand acts as a filler. To give the desired qualities and characteristics, additives and plasticizers are introduced into the mixture, and the color scheme of the desired color.
It is not difficult to make a mixture ready for use, it is enough to dilute the composition with water or latex to such an extent that the consistency resembles putty. The biggest advantages of cement grouts are the simplicity and ease of use, and affordable price.
Epoxy mixtures are used to fill joints between materials with low water absorption.
The disadvantages include the porous and rough structure of the resulting joint, due to which the grout is more contaminated, and the insufficient water-repellent properties of cement fugues.
If you prepare the grout mixture not on water, but using latex, the fugue becomes much more elastic, it fills the seam better and the grout acquires moisture-resistant properties.
Epoxy
Modern fugues made on the basis of epoxy resins and hardener. They are used in rooms with high humidity and aggressive environments, and in places with mechanical stress. To grout joints on a tiled worktop or kitchen apron, it will also be right with an epoxy fugue. For the aesthetic appeal of the seams, and the creation of an original design, the grout composition can be filled with sequins, mother-of-pearl or colored dyes.
Buying ready-made grout mixtures in the store is certainly a good option, but there may be objective reasons that do not allow this. For example, a limited budget or a fugue, should have some special properties and qualities that are not inherent in store counterparts, and in general I wanted to experiment and show creative thought. In such cases, the grout can be done by yourself.
Grout (fugue) allows you to mask defects
Grout options made at home
There are several compositions of fugues that are easy to make yourself. According to the component that forms the basis of the grout, they are:
- Cement. A simple and cheap option to make a puffer is to mix cement and sand in equal proportions and then dilute the mixture with water. In this case, white cement is used, and sand of the smallest possible fraction. Dyes can also be added to the composition to give the desired color to the seam.
- Gypsum. Grouting tiles with your own hands from gypsum is also not difficult to implement, but you need to take into account the short setting time of this material, so you should not prepare too much of the mixture. And it would be right to add slaked lime or 2% of any glue of animal origin to the mixture, they will play the role of a plasticizer, which will make the grout less brittle and slightly increase the hardening time of the composition.
- Alabaster. This material is a type of gypsum that has only undergone additional high-temperature processing, and therefore, it is necessary to make a grout mixture by analogy with the previous option.
- Clay. To prepare a puffer from this material, you need to add a small amount of slaked lime to the clay mass for plasticity and a little cement for the strength of the composition when it hardens.
Also, do-it-yourself grouting will be considered an ordinary purchased white fugue with sparkles or dyes introduced into its composition. If the seam, in accordance with the design of the cladding, should be transparent, then the glitter grout can be made from liquid glass.
Requirements that grouts must meet
It is clear that home-made fumes are difficult to compete with industrial-made grouts, but still, it is quite realistic to get as close as possible to the desired parameters. Before diluting the grout, we present to the review the requirements for the properties of the fugues:
- you need to prepare the puffer in such a way that it becomes elastic and easily distributed at the seams;
- after filling the joints and hardening the composition, the grout should not crack and crumble during the care of the tiles;
- the setting time of the mass must ensure the processing of at least one square meter of the lined surface;
- when using a fugue in wet rooms, they are subject to appropriate requirements for moisture resistance;
- the ability to apply household chemicals to grouts for the care of a tiled surface and seams in particular;
- the aesthetic appearance of the grout should correspond to the overall design of the room, so it is better to make the fugue white or colorless and only then fill it with the desired color or sparkles.
A correctly made fugue helps to level small chipped tiles and possible minor defects in the installation of ceramics. Conversely, poorly executed grouting will ruin even an impeccably executed tile laying.
Fugue - a filler of tile joints - carries a decorative and functional load
What types of grouts exist, how to make them with your own hands and what properties they should have, we found out. At the end of the article, it remains to give recommendations on what should not be done when processing seams with grouting mastics:
- for sealing floor tiles, and places exposed to pollution, do not use a light-colored fugue;
- do not embroider the tiles with cement-sand compounds and plaster mixtures, as the grout body turns out to be porous and collapses quickly enough;
- if the grout mass has already seized, it is impossible to dilute it with water for further use;
- after completion of the grouting work, do not postpone the cleaning of the tiled surface from the remnants of glue and fugue for a long time.
Well, how scary? As they say, the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing, all the more remember that, in case of failure with homemade grout, you always have a chance and opportunity to correct the situation already using factory materials.
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The success of do-it-yourself bathroom tiling depends on the quality of each stage of finishing, including the grouting of tile joints. If the finishing of well-seasoned gaps between flawlessly laid tiles is done incorrectly, then the aesthetics of the final result of the finishing work, even performed by exclusive ceramics, will be in question.
Grouting is a very important stage of work, without which the decoration of walls and floors with ceramic tiles cannot be considered complete.
Therefore, we will consider how the grouting of tiles is correctly performed so that the result of this operation meets the technical requirements for facing this base, and the overall level of aesthetics of the finished finish. To do this, we list and consider the factors on which the quality of the grouting of joints depends, as well as ways to perform this simple but crucial stage of finishing work on laying ceramics with your own hands:
Technologies for filling joints with mixtures:
- cement based:
- based on epoxy resins:
- from furan resins;
- sealant grouts.
Preparing seams for grouting
Grout mixtures should be applied to the bathroom cladding only after the joints have been cleaned. This operation is obligatory under any circumstances and requirements for the finished surface.
Even if the room is not a bathroom, but dry, with non-aggressive use of surfaces, a seam with a protruding lump of tile adhesive is unacceptable. Therefore, after removing the crosses fixing the gap, the seams between the tiles are cleaned of tile adhesive with a narrow spatula or screwdriver to a depth of at least 5 mm, and then crumbly small debris is swept out of the joints with a hard paint brush.
On the bathroom floor, based on the increased requirements for the tightness of the base, it is more convenient to do this with a vacuum cleaner, and on the walls such cleaning will only benefit.
If the tile is porous, for example, unglazed clinker, then along the seams you should evenly stick a masking tape 3-5 cm wide with your own hands, which will protect the bathroom ceramics from dirt that is difficult to remove from such a surface. If this is not done, traces of dirt will subsequently need to be covered with paint matched to the tone of the tile.
Technology for filling joints with mixtures
The question of how to grout the seams on the tile cannot be considered separately from what mixture to use. The success of the finish depends on the correct choice of grout, in addition, the grouting tool is selected taking into account the characteristics of the selected adhesive in order to cover the joints efficiently and quickly. Therefore, we will consider the technologies for filling gaps between ceramic tiles of the floor and walls with various types of grout mixture and the tool used for this.
The seams between the tiles are filled with the mixture prepared according to the instructions using a rubber spatula. Spatulas with an elastic part in black (rubber) are more rigid, white (rubber) are soft.
The use of grouts based on a cement-sand mixture when filling the joints of glazed tiles is undesirable, since the sand will leave an abrasive mark on the glossy surface of the ceramic.
In addition, these compounds are used to fill gaps with a width of more than 5 mm, and therefore are unsuitable for the bathroom, where such a joint width is not used to ensure the tightness of the floor and wall cladding.
Hardener or latex is added to cement grouts
It is necessary to choose the right color of the grout mixture so that the seam, depending on the artistic design of the bathroom, effectively contrasts with the tile or, conversely, merges with its color.
Apply grout to the floor and walls of the bathroom in portions along the joint, after which the spatula movements perpendicular to the seam fill the gap to the full depth. The complete filling of the gap is indicated by its convex surface after a spatula is passed through it.
During grouting, periodically, every 15-20 minutes, excess glue is removed with wet foam rubber or rags. After a day, the surface lined with ceramics is wiped clean with a clean damp cloth, the tiles are allowed to dry, after which they are polished with dry flannel with their own hands.
Grouting tiles with epoxy-based compounds
The grout mixture is prepared by hand according to the instructions on the package, strictly observing the proportions of the bulk and hardener. The amount prepared at one time should be worked out quickly, within 5-10 minutes (the exact pot life is indicated on the package). It is better to lay the epoxy-based mixture into the seam with a home-made “syringe”, which can be easily made from a dense plastic bag by cutting off one corner of it.
The prepared portion of the grout is transferred to the bag, the cut corner is inserted into the seam and, pressing on the “syringe”, lead it along the joint, achieving full filling of the groove.
After emptying the bag, excess glue from the finish is quickly removed with a spatula, and then residual dirt is completely removed from the tile with a rag with a solvent.
Furan grouts
Furan grouts are black in color due to their main component - furan resin, therefore they are mainly used to fill tile joints in industrial premises. However, the technical characteristics of this composition are high, and its black color will quite harmoniously fit into the lining of the bathroom floor or walls made of cherry or deep green tiles.
The technology for filling joints with furan grouts with your own hands is similar to working with epoxy mixtures.
Such compositions are designed to fill the gaps between the ceramic cladding and the bathtub, sink, as well as the joints between the tiles and the laminate on the floor.
Coating the grout with sealant helps prevent staining of the grout and protects it from water damage.
Some varieties of these sealants, for example, "For Aquariums" silicone sealant, in most cases, with the right choice of color, will quite cope with the task of aesthetic, airtight and durable grouting, but the use of this expensive material for other purposes is not justified when there are many grout compositions on sale with high performance at an affordable price.
Conclusion
In most cases, for craftsmen who have the skills of laying tiles with their own hands, wiping the seam of the cladding is not difficult. The only exception is the use of compounds based on epoxy resins, where the condition for success is the ability to quickly apply the mixture to the joints, which causes difficulty for beginners.
Knowledge of the described technologies will not only help beginners to do the finishing on their own, but also allow homeowners who are not experienced in finishing work to control the quality of finishing performed by hired workers.
Each master has his own technology of how to properly grout. Consider an example of cement grouting tiles without the help of professionals and craftsmen. That is, with your own hands. I think you will like this technology of do-it-yourself tile jointing.
A well-done grout can mask existing installation defects, while a bad grout can completely ruin the impression of a flawless installation.
The main thing is to do everything correctly and not make mistakes in the work.
For do-it-yourself repairs, cement-based grout is best suited. This is a powder that is diluted with water or liquid latex. Of course, you can pick up a ready-to-use liquid solution in the store, but it costs much more. In addition, in a solution made on your own, you yourself can adjust the density.
Let's start renovation!
To do the work with our own hands and strength, we need:
A construction mixer will not only save time and effort, but also mix the solution much better.
- grout for tiles (regular, moisture resistant, colored - depending on your preferences and the room);
- water (for mixing the grout and washing off unnecessary residues at the end);
- spatula (preferably rubber, for more convenient processing of seams);
- construction mixer (to obtain a homogeneous mass without lumps, but you can do without it - stir everything with a stick or spatula);
- bucket or bowl (any vessel in which the solution can be stirred);
- sponge (washcloth or ordinary kitchen sponge, in its absence, you can use an ordinary rag).
To form neat seams, you will need a special spatula that will help you achieve beautiful and even lines. Although if such a device was not at hand, do not be discouraged. The seams of the tiles can be corrected with your own hands, more precisely, with your fingers.
Before starting work, check that the adhesive on which the tile was laid is completely dry and carefully clean the tile from debris and dirt. Remove the remaining separators (crosses) between the tiles, as they can spoil the appearance after the work is completed.
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The process of laying grout on a tile
We take a container for stirring the grout, the grout itself and begin to make a solution, stirring the powder with water until a homogeneous mass of thick sour cream is obtained. Please note that the finished mixture tends to harden, that is, if the work area is large enough, you will have to prepare the solution several times.
Important: for better adhesion of the tile to the material, moisten the seams with water using a narrow brush or sponge. But do not overdo it, as excess moisture can cause the grout to crack or fall out of the joints, both at the stage of work and after it has dried. You can also use a garden sprinkler or spray gun to save time. If there are plumbing fixtures, household appliances, or other things that you don't want to get dirty next to the tile, cover them with masking tape for the duration of the work. Rubber gloves can be used to protect your hands. You can do everything with your bare hands, but be prepared that tile grout dries out the skin very much.
We collect the grout on a rubber spatula and spread it in a small slide on a previously cleaned and prepared wall. We draw the spatula diagonally, holding it at an angle of 30-45 degrees to the tile and trying to fill the seams as much as possible. The stronger the indentation force, the more densely the seam will be filled and the material will grab stronger. The main idea of the whole process is to fill in all the voids and corners around the tiles that are left after laying them as efficiently and correctly as possible. When filling the seams, press the grout into them and immediately wipe off the excess from unnecessary areas. Remember to stir the solution in the bucket from time to time so that it remains as soft and elastic before applying it to new areas. According to the technology of grouting tile joints on the walls, you need to move from the top of the wall to the bottom. If you rub the seams on the floor, it will be correct to move from the corner of the room to the exit. Try to do everything as efficiently as possible, quickly and accurately. As you work, you will be able to see for yourself what the drying rate of your solution is, and determine at what speed you should work.
When all the seams are filled, proceed to the stage of removing excess grout from the tile. This time, hold the spatula at a right angle to the tile and scrape off the excess material into a bucket.
Wet the sponge as much as possible, and then test a small area of the cladding surface. The grout in the joints should be elastic and dense, but not hard.
Further, after the initial cleaning, wait 15-30 minutes until the grout dries. After the initial cleaning, the grout should be wet cleaned with a sponge. To determine if tiles and grouts are ready for the second cleaning step, dampen the sponge and try to clean a small area first. The grout in the joints must remain tight and elastic, but not hard, otherwise the tiles will have to be cleaned with great effort, which can damage the joints. Next, with a damp sponge or cloth, we begin to remove excess grout from the tile in a circular motion. Do not forget to constantly rinse the sponge and wring it out well. How well the tile is cleaned can be seen by the purity of the water in the bucket. Ideally, the seam should be even on top, not convex, even slightly concave. The seams can be trimmed with the edge of the sponge. To do this, run the sponge parallel to the seam, carefully removing the protrusions and filling the recesses with a small amount of grout on your fingertip. It is very important to give all worn tile joints the same shape and depth.
At the end, a final thorough cleaning of the surface of the tiles is done with a damp sponge. If you are unable to remove grout residue with a sponge, use a coarse-bristled brush. Remember, the longer the grout stays on the tiles, the harder it is to remove. The worn seams will finally harden in 5-7 days after grouting the seams with your own hands.
Happy repair!
The laying of tiles with jointing is primarily associated with the characteristics of the material. It's all about the edges, which do not always have the same, and smooth edges. Therefore, when mounted end-to-end, the rows will have distortions, especially noticeable on walls with a considerable length. Also, this method allows you to compensate for temperature deformations, especially on floors with forced heating.
But, in turn, the resulting gaps must be protected from clogging, and most importantly from moisture. This problem is solved by grouting the joints between the tiles. How to do this work, and what materials to use?
The quality of the process performed, as well as the functionality of the expansion joints, will depend on the correct choice of the main working material. The above factors, due to which it is necessary to grout the seams between the tiles, will prevent: the appearance of fungus, peeling of the tile from the base.
Also, after completion of work, the worn gaps look more aesthetically pleasing, and when choosing a material in a common color, the masonry will have a holistic appearance.
When buying the necessary mixture, you should immediately discard thoughts about the possibility of sealing the seams with silicone sealants. They do not have all the necessary qualities, and it is also not necessary to close the gaps with tile adhesive, which is not as plastic as the materials specially designed for this!
Today, two main types of compounds are used for grouting:
- Based on cement. Very flexible material that is easy to work with. It happens in finished form and dry. Also divided into options for wide seams (more than 5 mm), and narrow (less than 5 mm). Moreover, for the first, the presence of a filler in the composition is mandatory - sand, which prevents the appearance of cracks.
- Epoxy grouts. The mixture consists of epoxy resin, hardener, and quartz filling (sand). Prepare the substance by mixing the base (epoxy + sand) and hardener. To work with such a grout, experience is needed, it is very viscous, but the result is such that the seams will not lose their properties for 50 years.
In addition to the desired qualities of the material, the joint filler must be selected for a specific tile. It is worth following these instructions:
- The color is chosen according to the general color of the tile.
- If it has a variety of colors, the grout is chosen according to the prevailing tone.
- When combining different tiles, the material is needed for the general background of the entire room.
Only with a careful choice of grout can you get high-quality finish protection in combination with an aesthetic appearance.
The grouting process
It is necessary to think over the filling of the expansion gaps between the tiles even at the stage of its laying on the surface. Otherwise, you can get too narrow slots that will be inconvenient to fill with material, or vice versa, too wide openings will be created, which is fraught with a significant consumption of grout, and its cracking. A gap of 3-5 mm is considered optimal, in some types of design it is made wider, but not more than 12 mm.
Before proceeding with filling the joints with material, you need to navigate the recipe for its preparation, prepare the gaps for grouting, and also choose a convenient tool.
What can work
The set of necessary devices for filling the seams is small, everything is done manually, which means that no special tools are needed.
- Rubber, and the usual narrow plaster spatula.
- Container for mixing.
- Foam sponge.
- Clean water (if the grout is cement).
It is also worth buying rubber gloves, the base in the form of cement adversely affects the skin, there may be irritation.
Preparing gaps for grouting
In principle, if all the tiling work is done carefully, then special preparation at the work site is not required. However, this is not always the case.
Manufacturers produce various collections of tiles, both for walls and floors with beveled edges (bevels), which are usually lighter than the rest of the background. Naturally, during transportation and installation, these parts will be contaminated, they need to be washed so that after grouting they do not stand out black.
Also, the chamfers should be cleaned during the grouting process from material splashes and at the end of the work!
Before work on filling the joints, you can inspect all gaps for contamination, followed by cleaning them, and also wet the areas well before applying the mixture.
How to prepare a mixture
Some experts recommend using a mixer to knead the grout. But, working in a small room alone, you should not immediately prepare a large amount of material, and even more so use all of it, you may not have time to do everything in one go, and the rest will simply disappear. Therefore, kneading is done in portions, in small batches as they are consumed, and manually.
Usually preparation is carried out using water, less often latex liquid. It is important to observe the dosages indicated on the container, otherwise excess moisture will lead to the loss of some of the qualities of the material.
Mixing is carried out by adding a dry mixture to the water, not vice versa! Moreover, the liquid initially needs about a third of the volume indicated in the recipe, then it is added during the mixing process. By mixing the components, control the consistency, it should be a little thicker than sour cream.
When preparing a large amount of grout, you can use a mixer, and it must be completely immersed in the mixture. It is important, with such mechanization, not to use high speed drills, about 300 per minute is enough.
The prepared mixture should be left to infuse for a period of about 10 minutes, after which work on filling the seams should be started.
Grouting joints between tiles
The grouting scheme is observed as follows: first, horizontal lines are processed, then vertical ones. The whole process is carried out from the bottom up in separate sections.
The execution technique is as follows:
- The work must be done with two spatulas. Plaster steel is gaining a portion of the material, and stretch it along the edge of the rubber spatula.
- The main tool (rubber spatula) is set at an angle of 20-30 degrees to the seam, and the mixture is pressed into the gap with a short movement.
- Surplus, which will inevitably emerge, must be removed with the same device, moving it along the gap.
- On the surface of the tile, stains will inevitably remain, which are wiped off with a sponge a little later.
Attention, a situation is possible when the tile absorbs moisture from the material too quickly (despite preliminary moistening), and it settles in the gap. In this case, you can add mixtures in the same way.
In addition to the technique using spatulas, you can use a trowel bag. This device, according to the principle of operation, is similar to a confectionery device for creating patterns from cream. A portion of the grout is placed in the container of the tool, and, having set the nozzle at the beginning of the seam, they lead the bag along, gradually squeezing the composition into the gap. In this way, you can speed up the process.
At the end of the work, you need to wait until the composition dries, and then wipe the surface of the tile to remove plaque.
When you carry out self-grouting of tile joints, you may find, after the mixture has hardened, unevenly filled areas with joint defects. Do not panic, this is a completely natural situation of a decrease in the volume of material as a result of moisture loss. Simply prepare the same grout compound and re-introduce it into the gaps followed by a sponge wash. As a result, you will get the perfect design of tiled masonry.
