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The Ultimate Guide to Grouting Norstone Lynia Mosaic Tile
In the world of tiling, grout is a very important, but often overlooked detail in the whole process. As anyone can attest, it’s a lot more fun and interesting to look at beautiful tiles from all around the world then a few pencil like strips of various color grout. At Norstone, the only product we currently make that gets grouted is our Lynia Medium Format Mosaic Wall Tile. Each Lynia tile unit consists of nine strips of either basalt or marble, that are each twelve inches long and come in three different heights. The strips are mounted to a two layer backing system and staggered to create an interlocking mosaic wall tile and spaced out to create grout lines that are about 3 mm wide.
When it comes to grouting the Lynia series, we focus on making sure our customers are using the right type of grout, helping them understand how the grout color can change the way a product looks and needs to be installed, and finally proper techniques for grouting.
There are two types of grout that can be used to install the Lynia mosaic wall tiles, either un-sanded or epoxy grout. Un-sanded grout is designed for grout lines that are less than 1/8” wide, which the Lynia tiles fall into, and if sanded grout was used there’s also the potential that the grit of the sand will swirl or mark up the honed finish of the Lynia tiles. Epoxy grout is another option, which typically comes pre-mixed. When asked for a recommendation, we suggest the un-sanded grout since it is easier for most tile installers, both professional and DIY, to work with.
Grout color is another really important aspect of a project to consider when working with the Lynia mosaic wall tiles. Selecting a grout color that is slightly lighter than the stone is a good rule of thumb as it still allows the linear nature and design of the tiles to come through, but is more forgiving in terms of making sure all the grout lines line up and are consistent in size and spacing. This is especially true for mosaic tiles.
Selecting a grout that is contrasting in color to the stone can serve to really bring out the design of the product, but requires a lot more skill and patience to get the install just right (think 100s of spacers to make sure the spacing is just right on both the horizontal and vertical gaps. When done well, the Lynia tiles will really look amazing!
We fully cover how to install this product in our downloadable Lynia Series Installation Guide, but for purposes of today’s discussion, we’ll focus on just the highlights of the grouting process itself.
As far as technique is concerned, grout should be applied about 24 hours or longer after the tiles have been installed, and any excess thinset should be cleaned off the face of the tiles. If the grout is not pre-mixed, it should be mixed per the manufacturer’s instructions, and you’re generally looking for a consistency that is a little less stiff than smooth peanut better, but not runny. A grout float is used to press and compress the grout into the gaps and lightly scrape off excess grout from the face of the tile. Use a sponge and clean water to remove the excess grout, taking care not to dig any of the grout out from the gaps. When sponging off natural stone tile, its very important that you use a lot of clean water and constantly are rinsing the sponge. The cleaner your sponge is the less grout haze you’ll end up with in a day or two! The grout will end up being sealed as part of our recommendation to seal the entire stone installation once the grout haze is removed.
If you have any technical questions about installing our stone products or want to learn more about the Lynia or any of our other natural stone veneer products please reach out to any of our knowledgeable reps and get your questions answered. To some people, grout may be pretty boring, so we thank you for sticking with us and learning all about this important part of the installation process of our Lynia medium format Mosaic Wall Tiles!
