Floor Grout Alternatives?

[Alan Smithee]

Between my dining and main entrance I have a 16' run where two very different floors meet. The dining room is solid bamboo T&G and the hall floor is slate tile. The bamboo was installed about four years ago and since the grout line (1/2" to 3/8") separating the two floors has begun to crack and crumble in spots. I attribute this to seasonal movement. The question is, is there a grout-like product with a little bit more give than cement grout that can be used? I'm thinking something more rubber or latex based. Thx.

[krw]

Grout between dissimilar materials or two ares that may move is a problem-in-waiting. Why not use caulk that matches the grout? If you remember the color grout used (not likely, eh? ;) you can often buy matching caulk. Barring that, a tile store will have grout color charts that may get you close. You can either buy the caulk "sanded" or "unsanded" to most closely match the grout.

[Richard J Kinch]

Or ... gasp ... mix some sand in to ordinary caulk, instead of buying the overpriced tile version.

[Bob F]

There are caulks that look like grout. Check at any good tile store - they will have color samples to compare. They are a lot softer than grout.

Or, you could use epoxy grout, which has better 'give' than regular grout. It's expensive, and a little tricky to use.

Bob

[Alan Smithee]

This sounds like what I need. Thanks everybody.

[krw]

Either sanded or unsanded was $7 per tube, color matched to the grout I used. At least $7 isn't a big deal to me.

[thetiler]

Epoxy grout has about as much give as hard plastic. Any gap between tile and wood should be very soft, such as the sanded caulking mentioned several times.

I'm curious too how the other poster would mix his own sand in with unsanded caulking, and where he would get the very fine pure sand that is mixed in sanded caulk.

thetiler

Bob F wrote: