Grouting question

[Fruitfilledevil]

I plan on using Mapei Keracolor U unsanded grout for my subway tile. It will be dark in color. My question is, can I use a lighter color grout on the glass tile in back of niche, as I think the dark grout will not look good. What is the general opinion?

 

[WorthFlorida]

Do the niche first and let it dry completely before going to the next color. You don't want the darker grout bleeding to the lighter. It will be a bit tough to prevent the grout from going past the inside corner if that is where you'll make the transition. You might use ice cream pop sticks (buy at Michael's or craft stores) and wedge them in the between the tiles to act as a barrier. Before going to the wall tile, tape off the niche tile to prevent the darker grout from going over the lighter ground.

I think your idea of two colors is good since the niche has black tiles. Dark grout will make two thin tiles look like one thicker one.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Fruitfilledevil]

Do the niche first and let it dry completely before going to the next color. You don't want the darker grout bleeding to the lighter. It will be a bit tough to prevent the grout from going past the inside corner if that is where you'll make the transition. You might use ice cream pop sticks (buy at Michael's or craft stores) and wedge them in the between the tiles to act as a barrier. Before going to the wall tile, tape off the niche tile to prevent the darker grout from going over the lighter ground.

I think your idea of two colors is good since the niche has black tiles. Dark grout will make two thin tiles look like one thicker one.

Thank you for the advice. Good idea on the taping. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Jadnashua]

Industry standards call for ALL changes of plane or materials to NOT be grouted, so those areas should be caulked. It's too late to have decided to use an engineered expansion joint, then nothing would need caulk.

I can't tell what the gap joint width is, but most unsanded (and industry standards) say unsanded is good up to a 1/8" gap, otherwise, you should use a sanded one. FWIW, unsanded is less robust than a sanded one, too.

 

[Fruitfilledevil]

Industry standards call for ALL changes of plane or materials to NOT be grouted, so those areas should be caulked. It's too late to have decided to use an engineered expansion joint, then nothing would need caulk.

I can't tell what the gap joint width is, but most unsanded (and industry standards) say unsanded is good up to a 1/8" gap, otherwise, you should use a sanded one. FWIW, unsanded is less robust than a sanded one, too.

You're correct. I am going to caulk the corners. My question was referring to grouting the glass a light color, and the subway tile a dark color. I will caulking the intersection if the two planes

 

[Jadnashua]

It's dealer's choice...whatever you or your significant other think looks good.

Depending on what software you may have, it wouldn't be that hard to use a photo editing program to 'add' whatever color grout you wanted to view the effect.