Anyone Have Experience With Epoxy Grout?

wackman

I'm curious what the differences are between working with regular and epoxy grout. Pros and cons.

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Tscarborough

Are you grouting column bases or mortar joints?

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cleveman

It is getting easier and easier to work with as the product is improved.

I can't think of any advantages to working with it, however, only the end product. It is certainly not easier to work with than normal cementious grout. But it is not much difficult anymore.

It used to set up fast, especially in warm weather (above 65 degrees). This seems to be better. It used to be very, very sticky, and this seems to have been improved upon as well.

Now the disadvantages are down to the price, the clean-up, and the mix. I have been mixing small amounts of cementious grout lately, and I wish this were possible with the epoxy. I think I have a couple of gallon units of this and they don't recommend mixing less than a full load. I think I mixed a half load. You must measure it very carefully. It would be nice if you could buy it at the same price, but packaged for smaller batches. Let's face it, you don't need much grout to do 50 square feet of 8x8" tile or a tub surround of 12x12's.

Try it on a small project of your own first, even if this means laying up some tile on a wall in your garage and ripping it out later.

ChrWright

For masonry, no experience at all...

For tile.... I now use epoxy exclusively for just about everything.

PROS:

Color consistency--dead on the color chart with not light/dark variations
Durability--will not stain, no need to seal
Very strong, very durable bond

CONS:
Much more expensive
For walls it can run if it's hot where you're working
Clean up takes a little more effort & attention
Haze/residue left overnight is a huge pain to clean up
Pot life can be a bit short if you're working alone

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wackman

Tile

This is for smaller projects like bathrooms, kitchens, etc...

Sounds like you're doing exactly what we're going to be doing. Any tips for mixing small batches or helpful things you've noticed that I might not have to learn the hard way?

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ChrWright

We use Latapoxy exclusively--my supply house stocks their full line of colors, plus the Lowes in my area caries it as well--in the mini units. This can be great for touch-ups & small areas. Still expensive thought. I think the 8 lb unit A, B & C is around $50 at the supply house. The small unit at lowes is still around $30 I think.

If I'm doing really small touch-ups I use the Latasil color matched silicone caulk. We caulk the corners & transitions with this as well. Unfortunately, they don't offer their full line of colors in the Latapoxy which can be a pain.

Seems like we do at least one to two more clean water wipes on the epoxy than we normally have to do with regular grouts. Even then, you can be left with a little tackiness the next day.

With the initial two wipes--the Latapoxy products come with a small pouch of powder additive for the water. These work very well--couldn't tell you what's in them. Wear gloves from start to finish.

There are a number of ways I've come across to clean overnight haze & stickiness:

1 Softscrub--Have tried this and it worked well even on haze that was left for a few weeks. (Clear haze, not dried grout)

2 Diluted vinegar--Haven't tried this

3 Add a small amount of part C to water--haven't tried this, but heard it through a Laticrete rep.

4 Epoxy Residue & Sealer Stripper--This works very well but is also expensive. I think a 1 gallon jug is around $50.


We do quite a lot of slate. Normally we two coat with an acrylic sealer before grouting as a release. The epoxy knocks down the sealer a lot more than regular sanded grouts do. A sanded grout typically takes a lot of the sheen off the sealer but the epoxy seems to almost strip it.

We recently did a honed bluestone bath, which required a penetrating sealer. It didn't seem to be affected by the epoxy at all.

I have to get on the guys constantly about leaving globs here & there. When they set up overnight, it's a major headache to chip them off without damaging whatever they landed on. Ditto for excess grout left in tight corners.

We typically do very high end work and you can't beat the look, durability and low maintenance of epoxy. From what I've seen, most guys are charging an extra buck a foot on the labor end if you're subbing out the install.

Hope that helps.

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Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

wackman

Helps a lot. Thanks Chris.

Wack

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