![]() Meanwhile, that feature is built right into this formula, and we have never had it crack or shrink in all of our years of using it – which isn’t something we can say about the other grout we’ve used (even with that special liquid additive). Old grouts that we used to use recommended a special liquid additive in place of water that made it more flexible to help it resist cracking or shrinking. It’s Crack Resistant & Shrinkage Controlled In fact, I took the photo above this weekend, over a year & a half after we grouted just to demonstrate that this stuff goes the distance. Everything looks as good as the day we grouted it. In any of the three bathrooms, the mudroom, the backsplash. ![]() But we’re over 18-months in on the beach floors and they’re still looking as good as new. I should disclaim that it’s water-based stains that this grout is resistant to and like any “stain resistant” surface, you still probably shouldn’t slather marinara on it and let it sit for days. This Mapei Flexcolor is somehow formulated to prevent stains (how, I don’t know – magic? crystals? the dark arts?) so all you have to do is let it cure for 3 days and it’s good to go (you can walk on it after 24 hours). Tiling already has enough steps involved so I’m always happy to eliminate one, especially the annoying ones at the end like sealing your grout to prevent stains. tile: this black & white hex tile (we replaced the black tiles w/ these blue tiles) This Grout Doesn’t Need Sealing & Is Stain ResistantĪgain, need I say more? Probably not, but that’s never stopped me before. The tubs seal up nicely (firmly press the lid down until it snaps all around the perimeter and that’s it), so I’ve really appreciated reopening grout that’s over a year old to use it for another project and finding it fresh and ready to go. white hex tile / subway tileĪnd the last thing I’ll say about pre-mixed grout is that it also stores well for touch-ups later (like if you drop something heavy and pop some grout out of a crack and you need to smear some more onto that spot, or if you see that you missed a spot). So using premixed grout means you don’t have to worry about your color changing from one mixed batch to the next. It wasn’t a huge deal, but we were definitely disappointed that after all that time and labor it didn’t look consistent. We used a dark grout for the first time and the way that we mixed/applied it caused it to dry lighter in some spots than we had hoped (some areas that we mixed ourselves must have been a little more watered down, so it dried a slightly different color in those spots). We ran into this problem when grouting our covered back porch. Instead, you can just pop open a tub and get going.īut a lesser appreciated benefit of premixed grout is that it also ELIMINATES COLOR INCONSISTENCY. If you’ve ever mixed your own grout, I don’t need to say much more about why pre-mixed is a better experience.įor starters, it eliminates a lot of time and effort spent measuring out your powder and liquid additive, stirring it together, and adjusting until you get the right consistency. ![]() So I’m going to just dive into all the whys of that very big statement about grout – and I’m also going to toss in some tips for picking the right grout color (including our go-to color that works nearly every time – we’ve used it in so many rooms) and my new trick for minimizing grout haze while I’m at it. Even our contractor swears by this stuff. We are going on 2+ years of not buying a single other type of grout (we don’t even look their way – our heart is TAKEN). ![]() But the duplex tiling just gave us more time for our romance to blossom, so I wanted to tell you why this has become THE ONLY GROUT we ever buy & use. I meant to proclaim our love for this grout after finishing the beach house tiling two summers ago but we got sucked into the duplex and, well, this post never got written. And no, this is not sponsored by either Mapei or Floor & Decor, which is where we typically buy ours (sorry, necessary disclaimer because this post is going to sound pretty gushy). I know this sounds like I’m overreacting, but take it from people who have grouted 7 bathroom floors, 3 showers, 3 mudrooms, and 2 backsplashes in the last two years: this grout has been life-changing. If you’ve got a tiling project in your future (even the distant future), remember, bookmark, voice memo, tattoo, or do whatever you need to do to remember Mapei Flexcolor grout.
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