Grouting? ? ?

[Ray]

I would like to make a tabletop of ordinary 4x4 kitchen tiles, but I've never done this before. Is tile grouting difficult, or should I call in a professional?

[krw]

Grouting is the easiest part of tiling. My 5'x9' master bathroom floor took an hour. Read and follow the directions and buy a good float ($10).

[RicodJour]

Grouting is easy enough, and for a table it'll be a snap. You'll have fun, so go for it. You'll want to use a latex modified grout to minimize the chance of staining the grout, and you should seal the grout as well. Belt and suspenders.

The toughest part of grouting is making sure that you clean off all of the excess grout and haze while you have the chance. Once it's dried the grout haze is a bitch to remove. Keep the sponge clean by frequenting dunking in a bucket of fresh water and squeeze as much water out of it as you can. Do that on every stroke or two of clean up. Once it looks perfectly clean, let the grout set up for fifteen minutes or so and then use an old towel to rub off the grout haze on the tile without disturbing the grout joints.

R

[krw]

Do they sell anything else these days? Yes, sealing is important (and absolutely trivial amount of work).

A accidentally left haze on my half-bath floor. It was easy to clean up the next day with the blue-green "Scotch Brite" pads. I thought I was in for a LOT of work, but it turned out to be a snap. It takes a lot to scratch floor tiles.

[Norminn]

Our tile contractor had us wipe tile down after about 24hrs (48?) with mild vinegar and water. It looked absolutely clean, but we followed his instructions.

Tile grouting takes a little muscle, but otherwise not difficult. Be sure to follow pkg. instructions. If you are using unglazed tile, then there is a whole 'nother procedure.