Can you change the color of your grout?

We just had our house built and we used these tiles that look like tumbled marble in white for 2 of the bathroom floors. We have the same tiles around the master bathroom tub.

The tile people used white grout between the tiles around the tub (love it) and gray grout between the floor tiles (don't love it so much).

I had the tile guy here today to fix something else, we are working through our punch list, and I talked to him about the grout on the flors being made white. Turns out they can do it, but they have to remove the gray grout which is going to be really messy, and we are going to have a dispute about the cost, I know it, even though we specified white originally, this vendor is proving to be a hassle in every way.

So, my question is...can I just go to Lowes and get some white grout (or some other product) and go over the gray thats already there? If I can, I am just going to drop it, but if not I am going to have to get them to change it and I am so tired of going back and forth with them.

Thanks so much!

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

I'm pretty sure that in order to re-grout, you have to remove the existing grout...

I'd call another tile place and ask them / get an estimate to be sure. Otherwise, I'm sure someone working in that dept at Lowes or HD will be able to answer the question.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

we did it - but it was REALLY messy. Basically, DH ran over each and every grout line with a grinder, which cut the grout out.....the dust was everywhere.

Doable - and only messy once.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Thanks!! I would probably leave the grinder work to the tile people and argue with them that they should have done it white in the first place since we did specify it. They are constantly doing things like this.

I was hoping that there would be a way to like paint or bleach over what is there now instead of having to remove it. I would feel comfortable doing something like that, but I would be so afraid to damage or cut the tiles if it were up to us to remove the current grout.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Posted by dgirl

Thanks!! I would probably leave the grinder work to the tile people and argue with them that they should have done it white in the first place since we did specify it. They are constantly doing things like this.

I was hoping that there would be a way to like paint or bleach over what is there now instead of having to remove it. I would feel comfortable doing something like that, but I would be so afraid to damage or cut the tiles if it were up to us to remove the current grout.

Message edited 1/25/2008 1:12:23 PM.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

I did it in my bathroom. I just went over the old grout, which wasn't even old, it was a redone bathroom and I hated how the floor came out. My DH would have killed me if I suggested an additional expense to remove the brand new grout. No tile store or contractor is going to tell you to do it this way but with brand new grout, why can't you? it's not like you are trying to fix old grout by going over it.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Message edited 1/25/2008 1:43:28 PM.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

They just had this problem on one of those home flip shows. The grout was about 3 shades too dark, the contractor had used the wrong color. The contractor had to grind up the existing grout to redo the work and change the color. I'm sure it is a tough job too because you don't want to damage any tiles. So you can change it, but not easily.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am going to head over to Lowes at some point and ask.

I also figured that they did it that way because it doesn't make sense to have white grout on the floor, but we specified it in the store when we picked it out they agreed. Then when it was all finished I saw the dark grout and mentioned it and they put it in the punch list, and now they are saying they are going to charge me more money to fix it. Everything with these guys is a hassle. The worker tells me white floor grout doesn't exist, I call his boss and find out it does.

The saddle between the master bedroom and bath was loose. It's white marble, the guy instead of tightening it, replaces it with a dark gray saddle. I tell him it's not acceptable, and he tried to tell me that it was just wet that's why its a darker color. I made him remove it and it took them a week to come fix it. (they are here every day because there are 7 unfinished houses all around us)

I think it was just carelessness that they put it down dark gray and I wasn't here to catch it.

It's for 2 brand new bathrooms so I am hoping I can get away with just changing the color or bleaching it or some easier way since it's not like we have to worry about leaking or anything. I'm usually not this picky, but it just irks me to no end that they were so careless. I don't think I am going to have them grind up whats there though.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

I'd call the higher ups int he company and keep complaining. It might be a hassle, but it's their responsibility to fix.

My DH and I got REALLY good at dealing with workers when we renovated our house. Our tile / granite guys were HORRIBLE. At least they wound up doing good work... but their customer service was AWFUL!

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

Posted by dgirl

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am going to head over to Lowes at some point and ask.

I also figured that they did it that way because it doesn't make sense to have white grout on the floor, but we specified it in the store when we picked it out they agreed. Then when it was all finished I saw the dark grout and mentioned it and they put it in the punch list, and now they are saying they are going to charge me more money to fix it. Everything with these guys is a hassle. The worker tells me white floor grout doesn't exist, I call his boss and find out it does.

The saddle between the master bedroom and bath was loose. It's white marble, the guy instead of tightening it, replaces it with a dark gray saddle. I tell him it's not acceptable, and he tried to tell me that it was just wet that's why its a darker color. I made him remove it and it took them a week to come fix it. (they are here every day because there are 7 unfinished houses all around us)

I think it was just carelessness that they put it down dark gray and I wasn't here to catch it.

It's for 2 brand new bathrooms so I am hoping I can get away with just changing the color or bleaching it or some easier way since it's not like we have to worry about leaking or anything. I'm usually not this picky, but it just irks me to no end that they were so careless. I don't think I am going to have them grind up whats there though.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

yeah, you have to cut the exisitng grout out and re-do. If you want a quick fix I've seen it done with a stain.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

I'd be annoyed too if they did it a different color than I asked.

But just as a warning with white grout, in a year or so, some of it will look grey and the parts where you dont walk will still be white. It starts to look dirty. Just something to keep in mind before you go through the mess.

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

I've never used these products, but just found them on the web as something to look into. It's a grout paint that just goes over the existing grout. Don't know how it works, but just an option.

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infgroutcolorant.html
http://www.askthebuilder.com/507_Change_Tile_Grout_Color.shtml
http://www.floorstransformed.com/groutstain.html

Pen version
http://marketplace.hgtv.com/Product.aspx?Lid=1415-N6080916

Re: Can you change the color of your grout?

My husband is a contractor and he said you would have to rip up the existing grout and then re-grout however he said they do sell paint for grout (to change the color) but he has never used it so unsure how it would really look.