"To Grout that shower, or Not to Grout the shower walls"

Strangely doing something is different from just looking at the end results and going "I can do that  grouting too". Nearly every person on this earth knows that. Yet how many people go ahead without checking little bits of how too's. In this post the is the "what you see effects of a first time grouter.

Having arrived home from a local cove tucked just at the foot of the Brown Mountains [New South Wales] very early this morning one good sleep was necessary.

Besides it was Fathers  Day here in Australia and quite frankly getting stuck into another project just after travelling that long was not a cool idea to float.

So Monday, being the start of the working week for many, was also the start of the grouting job ahead.

Just the bathroom shower tiles to do!

The first job was to find the things from last weeks job. I'd met up with a friend, had a cuppa and some tea. Somehow ended up in Batemans Bay. There is where I'd witnessed the grouting of the shower recess once more. The last time was about twenty-years-ago. At the old house the people putting in the new shower  during a refit made everything look so easy!

Then there was the refresh over the week of a friend cleaning down, fixing up, and making a mad near closing dash to the local hardware store.

By the next morning the shower recess was so clean that even the corners shone. Literally every crevasse was gone over with a fine tooth comb [ toothbrush and cotton-tip actually]

After that one of the two bottles purchased was end cut. That allowed the grout to come out  with pressure backing the movement forward.

That same movement was also used to take the open nozzle tip steadily down, or across, the existing grout.  To which a finger was used to bring the grout into the line between the tiles. Steadily, carefully going down, or across ways, in a gracefully flowing manner.

That is what I saw happening up in Batemans Bay.

However, this is me and I'm in Victoria.  

The top half of the shower recess going downwards was pretty awesome.  Across though was slightly different.

Things got worse when the floor was as far down as possible. Yet the horizonal application of the grout was getting better.

Then it was confirmed.  A tile had split. The sharp jagged edges were showing through.  Although it was not a totally happy moment that sure answered questions about the possible ground movement.

Anyway back to the grout application

Grout.. the longer it is on the gloves converging the hands during actual application - dries up the actual grout faster. [ So it seems]

With all the little bits dropping on the floor there was at least a plastic bag on the floor to cover the drain hole. Plus clothes to pick up the fallen pieces littering the shower tray.

What's that thing called again?

The other nifty thing was the paint application and cleaning tool set. Two from that pack were used.  .  Primarily the 3 centimetre scraper thing known by the trades as a Taping knife..

The tapping knives used may have been flat on the edge at the beginning. However, they were being gradually filed at an angel whilst the excess grout was being scrapped off the pink tiles.

There was a fine grout all over the place.

.. and me. Doing all this though had interesting results especially with the empowerment attitude..

 More about these results To Grout that shower, or Not to Grout the shower in the next post.