Up next in 10
http://www.AsktheBuilder.com founder, Tim Carter, demonstrates using a common plastic bag to grout Mexican Tile. The secret to success is squeezing all water from the grout sponge.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Tim Carter, AskTheBuilder.com. I want to show you how to use a Ziploc bag to grout Spanish or Mexican tile
0:11
Come on down here and look at this. I filled up the bag with grout. You can see the consistency. It's like applesauce. You don't want it too wet
0:22
we cut a small little triangle hole in the corner of the ziplock bag and I'm
0:28
just squeezing it like this making sure the cracks filled and I don't want to
0:32
squeeze too much out at the top you don't want too much excess in just a
0:37
minute we're gonna sponge it so you can see what it looks like finished
0:52
So let me talk a little bit here before the next step
1:00
I've got the grout in between the tiles. It's kind of starting to get a little hard
1:04
I've got a little time to work. Notice I'm working in the shade, not direct sunlight. And here's something I wanted you to know
1:09
Before I put the grout in, I took this sponge, squeezed pretty much the water out of it
1:14
and I rubbed it along the top of the tile to get it damp. Because these Spanish-Mexican tile are really dry
1:20
They really absorb water and moisture fast, and I don't want too much water to come out of the grout too fast
1:26
So now we're going to be striking the grout joints, and what's really important is that when you decide that you're going to make the grout joints look good
1:33
you must have all excess water out of the sponge. So everything, I'm squeezing as hard as I can, and that's the last of the water out of the sponge
1:42
Now we ready to get to work All right, nice. Okay, I think you get the idea. So every time that you decide to rinse out the
2:23
sponge, you've got to get all the water out of it. And when I was flowing that sponge across the
2:28
grout lines, not a lot of pressure. If you put too much pressure on the sponge, you dig the grout
2:33
out of the joint. You don't want to do that. So just practice in a couple of spaces on the edge
2:38
of where you're working, where you could maybe put a flower pot or something else until you get
2:43
your technique right and try to do it in shady in the morning. The worst time to do this type of
2:49
work is in the middle of the day, hot sun, blue sky and wind. Worst time, the grout will dry too fast
2:57
So try to do it early in the morning, late in the afternoon in the shade. I'm Tim Carter, AskTheBuilder.com
3:02
If you want to discover more home improvement tips, go to askthebuilder.com
#Home Improvement