How to Grout Vinyl Tiles

Groutable vinyl tiles are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to real ceramic tiles. Primarily because these innovative self stick tiles offer a higher quality adhesive tile with the look and feel of ceramic tiles without the cost and installation hassles of real ceramic tiles. Although groutable vinyl tiles are a practical alternative to ceramic, grouting these tiles can prove to be somewhat tedious and challenging due to the shallow grout line available for grouting. However, when grouted these tiles appear like ceramic and fool even the sharpest eye.

To get started the following materials are necessary

Premixed sanded acrylic grout

Putty knife

Grout float (hard)

Sponge

Five gallon bucket; two or three would be ideal

Water

A brief discussion of the types of groutable vinyl tiles may be helpful. There are two types of groutable vinyl tiles currently on the market. One type has rounded edges and can be laid similar to ceramic tile using spacers to make the spaces to be grouted. The other type has recessed edges which form shallow grout lines. Both are higher quality vinyl tiles, very durable, and attractive, however, some have reported greater difficulty grouting the tiles with recessed edges. A few brands that have groutable vinyl tiles on the market are Nafco, Dura Ceramic, Cera Strong, and Designers Image.

Premixed sanded acrylic grout is recommended for use with groutable vinyl tiles. This type of grout is intended to provide strength and flexibility. This is necessary because unlike ceramic tiles, vinyl tiles expand and contract slightly with temperature changes and some flexibility in the grout material is necessary to prevent cracking.

Grouting procedure

Like with ceramic tiles, begin in an inner corner of the room and work your way out. Using a putty knife or another tool of choice that may work equally as well, scoop out some grout and 'plop' on grout lines. Spread and press the grout into the grout lines using a hard grout float on a low angle about 30 to 45 degrees above horizontal. Unlike with ceramic tile, do not spread grout over entire surface of the tile, rather, spread it only over grout lines. This will make grout clean up easier.

After the grout is securely pressed into the grout lines on the current work area, the excess grout needs to be wiped up. Wet a sponge, preferably a medium sized soft sponge, in a clean bucket of water and wipe away excess grout by wiping at an angle to the grout lines. This must be done very carefully and gently to avoid removing any grout from the shallow grout lines. This can be challenging and is often where people run into difficulties with grouting vinyl tiles.

It is helpful to change the water in the bucket frequently. It may also be beneficial to use two or three buckets of water to remove excess grout. Use one bucket for the majority of the first clean up and the second to remove any grout that is left over and so on. This will make grout clean up easier and minimize what is referred to as 'grout haze' on the finished product.

Move on to the next section and continue with the process of 'plopping' grout onto grout lines, pressing in with the float, and wiping away excess grout until the floor is finished. Do not walk on the floor for approximately 24 hours after completion.

Approximately after 24 hours or after the initial application or when grout has hardened, wipe the floor again using a clean bucket of water and sponge to remove any residual grout haze. A typical scotch sponge with a mild abrasive scrubbing side would be suitable for this. Removing grout haze may require the use of some type of cleaning solution such as Armstrong Once n Done Resilient and Ceramic Floor Cleaner. However some floor grout haze removers such as Armstrong New Beginning Floor Stripper may be damaging to vinyl surface. It is best to refer to the tiles manufacturers instructions if possible.