We didn't, which is why we think you should.
When we finished tiling our kitchen floor (way back in '08), we immediately started having trouble with the grout cracking. We decided we'd have to take it out and re-do parts of the grout, so we held off on sealing the grout.
Yeah, we never fixed the grout, and therefore we never sealed it.
Here's what our grout is supposed to look like (this was covered by our fridge for 3 years, which is why it's still clean):
And here's what the grout on the majority of our kitchen floor looks like:
So don't be like us. Seal your grout. Right away.
(We'll be removing all of our grout and re-grouting the entire floor, which falls into "how to make remodeling projects as complicated as possible)
oh no!!! we just tiled the bathroom floor with natural stone and had to seal it twice...i did it 3 times just in case. i never would have thought it would do that though. oh geez, i cant imagine having to remove all that, it doesnt look that bad in the pic, but im sure it bugs you. i would do the same in that case. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think that's what we'll be doing this time - sealing it over and over and over again!! I've tried ignoring it, but it just looks so dirty to me all the time. Once we moved the fridge and I saw what it used to look like there was no going back.
DeleteThat hurts...
ReplyDeleteNot jealous of this job! We need to regrout our tile tub surround and I am dreading it!
ReplyDeleteDude, they sell grout that color. Just pretend you wanted it to look like that. Grouting is such a pain!
ReplyDeleteHaha! I like that idea. But it's also cracked and falling out in a couple places AND we need to put new tile in where the closet used to be, so matching the new grout with the old grout would be tricky. But I haaaate grouting. Passionately. And that's a big room!!
DeleteWe learnt that lesson the hard way too! We didn't seal our bathroom floor grout when we first renovated and three years later I spent an entire day scrubbing it clean - on my hands and knees on the marble tiles of course. You do also have to remember to periodically re-apply the sealant because most won't save your floors for that long anyways.
ReplyDeleteWe are DEFINITELY using dark grout in our bathroom...and then sealing sealing sealing sealing sealing.
ReplyDeleteSealing the grout won't stop the change in color from light to dark. Ask me how I know...
ReplyDeletewow, what a difference! we made sure to extra-seal the grout in our tile behind the stove on our backsplash. we heard horror stories of grout changing color from grease splashes...yuck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jennifer. At least in the picture, the dark color is a nice contrast -- actually brings out the color of the tile. Maybe when you do grout, you want to think about using a darker color anyway.
ReplyDeleteMy parent's have ceramic tile and their grout darkens, periodically she goes over the grout lines with a scrub brush and peroxide and it lightens back up...not sure if that trick will help you, but if it worked it's definitely easier than regrouting... :-) good luck!
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, do the smallest grout lines possible and choose a dark grout to begin with! I used to scrub my kitchen tile grout for hours every month in my last house, never again will I do light tile with light grout. Never!!
ReplyDeletejust read on pinterest the other day (love that site!) that a clorox bleach pen will lighten up/clean up grout. worth a shot?
ReplyDeleteSara has a great suggestion and that's why restaurants always have dark grout. I learned this lesson the hard way too (but not as bad as yours). It also stinks that you have to redo it every so often.
ReplyDelete