Staining existing grout
 

We are in search of advice from those who have experience having the grout on shower walls stained. This is new construction and we're being told by contractor this is easy to do.

Specifically:
1. Does it look good?
2. Does it get on the tiles?
3. Will it last?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

OP, I have no idea on "staining", however, I have used a product called Grout Shield, a specialized grout sealing product that can color (or color match) grout while it seals the grout. I have used this in the entire house sealing the floor and bathroom grout, and it works very well. This is primarily a DIY product. I did a Gardenia, about 1600 square feet tile and to bathrooms, one with a walk in shower, very happy with the results.
NOTE: this is a paint like material and is designed to match existing grout, but can be used to change color. I have no idea if the "stain" provides a sealing function, I would check on this before using.

I have a white subway tile backsplash with white grout and my cabinets are white. I did have one aqua straight line of tile about 2" wide running through the middle of the tile, but it still looked kind of plain. I found this item on Home Depot website, they didn't stock it here. I ordered it online and picked it up at the store about 3 days later.

It took about 2 hours to do my backsplash. Just try and get it on the grout and have a wet sponge handy and wipe it off the tile rightaway. It came out really nice, I think it made the tile really pop. Don't worry about it getting on the tile unless it's something porous, subway tile as you know is very slick and smooth so the dye didn't stick even if I wiped it off 5 minutes later. I used a dark gray, I thought a color or black might be too drastic a change.

Since you're dealing with new construction, why can't the builder just use colored grout to begin with. That would be so much easier and if they don't want to hassle with it, tell them you'll provide the grout. Then go and buy some. Coloring is an OK method once the tile is set, but I don't understand why it can't be done initially.

https://images.homedepot-static.com/...pt-64_1000.jpg

Home Depot Tile Dye

Thanks for the info on both products.

By the way, I did the Grout Shield project about 2 years ago, and this was after a recommendation from another Villager that had done it 10 years prior.

I should have stated that the grout was recently done as a warranty repair along with the new tile installed within the 1st year. Now the replacement grout isn't close to the replacement tile. So the only solution we're being told is to stain it to better match what we wanted.

I would recommend sealing the tile/grout after you use whatever product you want to recolor. Our grout was very discolored when we purchased. I don't know that the builder ever sealed our tile/grout. It was so badly stained in some areas that it seemed almost impossible that it had been properly sealed. Renewing (or recoloring) the grout and sealing the tile will give a really nice appearance and as folks noted, it's a fairly easy DIY project. I used a toothbrush to ensure I got good coverage of the grout with the new color and then wiped off with a wet sponge as noted.

NEXT TIME...we will do the Grout Renew myself. We had SureClean Solutions about five years ago and they were amazing, this year not so much. Colored/resealed only after the cleaning didn't some out the way it should have. Someone came to "quickly" finish the job and color the grout and didn't get to the edges fully. Just not the job they did five years ago. Even the worker told us we could re-color it ourselves for less. We should have listened.

Hi Villager! I'm the "other" person who did this many years ago, or I should say my husband did our whole house years ago. Our tile flooring is a very expensive custom tile and when the tiler laid it he used a very light grout and over time it darkened and could not be cleaned. My husband found this product on line, at that time it was called "Dirty Grout Be Gone", since then there have been many similar products on the market. It was a long and tedious job, but so well worth it. I can spill spaghetti sauce on my grout and it just wipes right up. I know I have some of this left and if you need more information on the product we used I will gladly find it and pass it on to you, or yu can PM me if you wish.

Call home warranty and get the name of your original grout, then contact Grout Shield, https://www.groutshields.com/, and they can match your original grout color, that is what I did, and I actually missed coating a few locations, which I found the first time we washed the floor, these areas turned dark as the water soaked into the grout. I went back an coated these areas after they dried.
Send me a PM if you would like to discuss further.

Thanks to VT, I ordered Grout Shield in the color of our original grout, Mapei Biscuit. We watched the how-to video on applying the product which was easy to follow. My husband did the kitchen and laundry room in a very short time and "feathered" it in to the existing grout in the adjoining rooms. It blended in perfectly. No more expensive sealing by grout cleaning companies that doesn't last anyway. The kit cost around $30, with plenty left over. The only hard part is getting down on one's hands and knees.

A hint for others that might be doing large areas, I found that using a shower type squeegee (about 8 inches wide) works really well to clean the excess sealer off the tiles, better the the recommended sponge, and then follow up with a very light sponge.