How to Grout Pebble Tile
In our house we are lucky enough to have a bathroom in the basement. Not exactly common in many houses, but since we have a laundry room down there and all of our tools and DIY supplies, it’s pretty handy.
We’ve been renovating this bathroom for three years.
Yes, I said it. Not all room makeovers happen in 48 hours like on tv.
We took this bathroom down the foundation and have since done tons of work on it, and we’re almost done. I’ll be super excited to cross this off of our DIY project list very soon.
One of the projects we did on our own was the tiling in the shower. This included the floor and walls. Dan installed the tile, I did the grouting.
My friends at Glass Tile Oasis were great in partnering with me on this project. I selected some of their tile to use in our shower area, particularly for the floor.
After looking through the many products that Glass Tile Oasis has, we picked the Onyx Black Pebbles and Stones Natural Tile for the floor to compliment the simple gray tile we had already purchased for the walls and bench. I went with pebble tiles to bring a little bit of a spa feel to the space.
They have a great way to shop of their site, by color, type of type and project. Plus you can get samples for only a few dollars (plus free shipping). After a lot of searching for tile for this project, Glass Tile Oasis’ prices were some of the lowest, so it’s a great idea to shop online for tile and have it shipped right to you.
Here’s what the tile looked like after we installed it.
If you’re not familiar with how tile like this works, it all comes on a mesh backing so it’s super easy to install. At first I was unsure about how to grout this type of tile, since it’s round and uneven, not flat and square like most tile. Here’s some quick tips on how to tile pebble tile.
After your tile is installed with mortar, the grout fun begins.
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Materials
- Grout – I used Polyblend Non-Sanded 10b Grout in Pewter
- Grout Boost – This is the liquid you mix with the grout instead of water so you don’t have to seal the grout.
- Grout Float
- Trowel
- Corded drill
- Mortar Mixer
- Bucket Scoop
- Grout Sponge
- Large bucket
- Water
Instructions
After securing your tile per the mortar instructions and drying time, you will mix the grout. Mix it according to the Grout Boost instructions. Usually you’ll mix the grout and liquid, wait and them mix it again before you can use it.
Grout should be the consistency of peanut butter and should not be pourable.
Use your bucket scoop to pick up some grout and lay it on the pebbles. You can kind of slop it on there and use the grout float to spread it around.
Since pebble tiles can vary in height from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, you’ll want to make sure the grout is thick enough to fill in all of the cracks between the pebbles.
Most of the pebbles will be covered at this point. Since this was a 36″ square floor, I put the grout on the whole floor all at the same time.
You can wipe up as much excess grout as possible. Then you wait for the grout to dry. I found this was longer than what was indicated on the box, so I waited a few minutes longer, about 30.
The best way to remove the grout after you’ve waited for hard joints is by wiping the sponge flat against the surface of the tile. I found this was a key to removing the correct amount of grout and not taking out the grout from in-between the pebbles unnecessarily.
Repeat this many times until you remove as much grout as you’d like for the floor to look. For pebble tiles, you can leave most of the grout and clean off the highest surfaces. That way when the grout dries, it will feel comfortable on your feet, not bumpy.
Don’t forget to wipe off any excess grout from the walls.
Once the grout dries, you can buff the tiles with a dry cloth. I actually polished each of the tiles on this floor. It will take off the haze from the grout.
After that you are finished. Tiling pebble is not as hard as you might think and creates a great look for your bathroom.
Take a look at Glass Tile Oasis for your next tile project. They have a great selection and it’s so easy to find something perfect for your home. Plus they have customer service chat, I love when you can chat with companies about their products.
Many thanks to them for providing the tile for this project!
Disclosure: I was provided tile for this project by Glass Tile Oasis. All opinions expressed here are my own.
