Comments on: Tackling The Bathroom: Chapter Five

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:23:20 +0000

You just wipe the release lightly over the face of the tiles (since there’s no grout in the cracks yet, they’re such deep crannies that it doesn’t settle into them and just sits on the face of the tile). Hope that makes sense.

xo,
s

By: Gigidy Gigidy

Gigidy Gigidy — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:04:26 +0000

Sorry to comment on an older post, but i plan on doing a complete reno of our bathroom as well – in fact, very similar to what you’ve done with this bathroom (great work by the way – extremely impressive). Quick question – how do you apply the grout release? wouldn’t getting the liquid in the grout lines have the same effect of releasing grout on the lines as they would on the tiles themselves?

I my have a ton more questions for you once i begin my project, but this one popped up as i was reading through the bathroom renovation posts.

thanks.

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:27:22 +0000

Oh no! We didn’t have any issues. Maybe try calling the number on the package to see what they recommend?

xo,
s

By: Ruth

Ruth — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:58:55 +0000

Just used SurfaceGard. My once white grout is now yellowish. You didn’t experience this did you?

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 23:45:14 +0000

Wahoo! So excited for you. Congrats!

xo,
s

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:10:35 +0000

Just wanted to thank you guys for giving my husband and I the courage to do our own tiling in our entryway!! I was going to just find someone to do it, but after I read this I knew we could do it!! My husband is grouting it as I type this, and it seems to be 1,000,000,000,000x easier than tiling! Looks beautiful!!

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:55:32 +0000

I know this comment seems way too late but I just used this entry as an instruction manual for grouting and sealing my bathroom. You tips were so much more valuable than the simple instructions on the bottle. Thank you for all the wonderful posts that are instructional, inspirational and incredible. Thank you!!!

By: Lesley L

Lesley L — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:01:04 +0000

Hi S&J! Stumbled upon your blog just a few weeks ago & it was timely since we have decided to DIY our only bathroom ourselves since the cost of having a pro doing it: approx $4000. Your tips & pictures have been a beacon of hope to us that we can do it too. I emailed all 5 chapters to my man so he can get the same “rah-rah, we can do it!” vibe that your blog has given me.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:30:52 +0000

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. You guys are too awesome with such a popular website and still responding to all your commenters and so quickly. You guys are definitely an inspiration!

Our tile guy came by yesterday and was trying to figure out how to fix it. He even went to our local tile store, as you suggested, to see what they had to say. He’s as stumped as the rest of us. So for now, we’ll have to just live with it I think.

Thank you again so much!

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:32:08 +0000

Hey Jamie,

We’re stumped. Did you personally see that he used the grout you bought? Maybe he used something he had on hand instead? We knew if we used something sanded it would definitely scratch so we used unsanded grout and we don’t have one scratch on our tiles. Perhaps it was his grout spreading tool? If that had old crusty grout stuck to it I would imagine that could scrape the tile as it was slid across it. Or maybe he wore shoes with rocks or other hard things stuck to the bottoms (like crusty thinset) which could scratch the tile as he walked back and forth across the room? As for the wear and tear of our bathroom, our tiles still look mint (even though we occasionally drop things they have held up amazingly, probably because we set them in a nice thick bed of mortar so they have a lot of support from the base – and no “give” to facilitate any cracking or bowing). So sorry to hear about your scratches- our advice would be to run to a tile shop and talk to experts there. Maybe you can apply an etching cream or a sealant to make them less noticeable. Good luck!

xo,
s