Three months into a bathroom remodel and the thing that surprised me most was the grout

When we started planning our master bath update last fall, I thought tile and fixtures would be the hard part. Turns out picking the grout color and type was what really stressed me out. I went with a sanded grout in a medium gray for the floor tiles, and it looked great at first. But after about six weeks I noticed it was already starting to crack in a few spots near the shower drain. My contractor said I should have used epoxy grout there because of the constant moisture. Has anyone else had trouble with grout holding up in a wet area like a shower floor?

3 comments

3 Comments

felixlane6d ago

Wait, six weeks and it was already cracking near the shower drain? That's wild. Honestly, I hear you on the grout struggle though, I spent like three hours in the tile aisle just staring at color charts and feeling dumb. But cracking that fast feels like more than just the wrong grout type, dude. Maybe the installer didn't back-butter the tiles right or the drain wasn't set properly. Tbh, epoxy grout is a total pain to work with but it's basically bulletproof once it's in, so your contractor might be right. Ngl though, I'm kinda shocked it didn't even make it two months before falling apart.

green.noah6d ago

Oh man, grout stress is real. I redid my kitchen backsplash and spent a whole week just staring at color samples on the counter.

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zara_sanchez2d ago

Nah, grout stress is a thing but picking the wrong color is way worse than getting it right. Been there, stared at samples for days and still ended up with something that looked like dirty sand. Honestly though, six weeks for cracking is just bad work, not a color choice problem. That installer probably rushed the mix or didn't let it cure right. Don't let them blame the grout type either, that's just an excuse.