Has anyone ever done this? I can't believe I'm thinking of taking this project on.
I have a ceramic tile floor in my entrance that is adhered very well to the floor. The tiles are shaped like your average bricks, and they are a beige that is a bit yellowy and greenish. It appears to me as though the original grout was painted over in a very dark brown. Because of the contrast between the dark brown and the lighter tile, there is a lot of pattern from the gridlines on the floor.
If anyone has used a paint product with success for floor grout, I'd love your recommendation. It's my hope to be able to tint a suitable paint to almost match the colour of the tile so that there is less pattern. (trying to make the floor fade into the background, you know?)
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
I've decided to live with it a while longer, as my new carpet colour on the stairs worked out pretty well, as it blends in with the tile. I'll try doing that with the wall colour as well, and rethink the grout job last with all the above tips in mind.
Building supply stores carry a grout remover tool but I've heard it doesn't work too well whereas apparently a Dremel with a certain attachment piece works quite well at removing grout. You do not have to remove it completely, just get enough of a channel for the new grout to sit in. Too bad it is painted as I used a very strong bleach solution on a dark reddish brown coloured grout and it lightened up quite nicely.
Nothing will penetrate the sleek, smooth finish of the dark brown (enamel?) paint that has been applied to the grout lines. It took a long time to see that it was paint, as there are only a handful of tiny spots that suggested there was lighter grout beneath it at one time. Finally when we removed a piece of baseboard, we found that the original, somewhat porous grout was an orangey rust shade. I can see how that was worse!
I'm sure the paint was applied some time ago. I think they chose dark brown to match the 70's dark brown stain on the stair railing. We're currently painting that white, with a black handrail.
If the grout has already been painted my stain idea probably wouldn't work, do you think it might be possible to try and remove the paint? The original colour might be what you are looking for.
Wow! sounds like you'll be on your knees for a while.
Have you thought of using a stain or maybe thinning out the paint so it actually soaks into the grout, which is porous, and you can wipe it off the tiles. It might make the job easier and less fussy, you won't have to worry about staying "within the lines".
Now that you mention it, I remember my SIL used some sort of grout pen that whitened up her wall tiles in the shower stall of a rental. I'm not sure if white would do the trick, or if that particular product would hold up on a floor.
I guess I could check tile places as well. Although grout comes in a wide variety of colours, there's no way I could possibly re&re the grout. It's stuck for good! (or until I win that lottery and take a sledgehammer to that ugly floor without a care in the wind of how expensive the consequences may be in redoing it!)
Should I find an appropriate paint, I'm sure the fumes of it will be pretty intoxicating. Maybe I should rethink this plan....
I've actually seen it done on one of those british real estate shows. To do a quick clean up, they had a grout paint, it came in a pen like dispenser. They had it in white, and just went over the existing grout and it made it look great! A nice quick, cheap fix.
Again this was a british show, so I'm not sure if that product is available here but it would be worth going to Home Depot and asking them about it!