Everyone wants to make their home beautiful, and for it, they do their best from cleaning to painting. The kitchen is the busiest part of our home which we always want to make classy. But unfortunately, due to the use of oil and other cooking stuff, the kitchen often becomes dirty on which we do hard work to clean it.
Homeowners install a backsplash to increase the attractiveness of their kitchen and also to prevent walls from oil and water that is a very wise decision. But, some people face issues after installing the backsplash, they don’t know how much time to wait to grout backsplash. We will guide you here.
Importance of Grout
Grout is an important part after the installation of the backsplash, which is used to give the final touch to it and remove the remaining gap between the backsplash and tiles. In this article, you will get some extra tips too about grout to make it more proper.
Other than removing a gap, it also holds the backsplash for a long time. Let’s suppose you do not pay attention to grouting. Then what will happen?
The answer is that it will allow entering moisture between those gaps, which will grow mold inside. After duration of time, when it will contact with water, then it will create a bad smell and bad looks on your backsplash, which you never want in your kitchen.
Now, you can see how much important grout is for our kitchen and making beauty for our kitchen long term.
How long do you have to wait?
Do you think why right timing is important in grouting? Because if you do not choose the right time for grout, then it will be converted into cracks and can disturb its alignment on it. So, this is very important to choose the right time for it.
There is one more step before you start grout, and that is to use a mortar and let it dry completely because too early will produce cracks. To make a perfect mortar, you can read instructions given by the manufacturer because it should not be so rigid or not so soupy.
According to our expert team, the ideal time for grout after installation of the backsplash is 48 hours, but if you can wait for more than you can leave it a maximum of one week, which will be a good time for grout. This is because mortar, too, as an ideal mortar, needs air to be cured completely and needs at least 48 hours.
But before 48 hours not to choose due to chances of cracks in the grout, which is not a good thing for us. Before you start grouting your, all sections, including from backsplash installation to using mortar, must be completed.
During grout, you can use adhesive tape to hold the backsplash, which will help to prevent falling or will not change alignment. One more does not use it during grout of your backsplash as it can misalign or damage your whole process.
FAQs
What will happen if you grout immediately?
We will never recommend this to you because it will lose your all-hard work on your backsplash installation as it will create a crack. Those cracks will allow moisture to enter into the gap between the backsplash and tiles, which definitely will produce mold.
After a lot of work and expenses, you never want the ending. You have mold inside the gaps of your backsplash and tiles. We know you are excited to complete your work and want to see the real beauty of your kitchen, but keep a patient little bit more. So, to prevent this, you just have to keep patience for at least 48 hours.
What will happen if you grout before mortar?
We have already discussed it before about this but let us answer your question. The answer is that it will create a crumble in grout and will damage the backsplash. When crumble and crack are made, then it will lose all your work as well as your expenses on it.
What will happen if we walk on tiles immediately?
When you walk on freshly installed tiles, then it will disturb the installation of your tiles from mortar, and it will not hold them anymore as you wished. As a result of this, your tiles will move forward from their original position during the process.
Just keep patience to walk on tiles and give at least a minimum of 24 hours for tiles. Because during this time, the mortar will become dry completely and will hold tiles in their original position for a long time.
What type of grout for the backsplash?
There might two categories of grout on is sand, and another one is sandless grout. Mostly you have seen sand grout is used everywhere because it is very common. With a duration of time, sand also gives strength to the grout.
Sand grout is good to use in tiles of floors, but for backsplash and kitchen remodeling, we should use a sandless grout as in this no chance of cracking.
How to pick the grout color for the backsplash?
Color is an important factor in any kind of design. Same with the backsplash, color plays a critical role in creating beauty, and it will impact on your overall design. The right color depends on your decision, because some like light color and some like dark one.
Based on our recommendation, we will suggest you choose light or dark colors that contrast with your backsplash and make it beautiful.
Final Verdict
Grout plays an important role in the backsplash, and we should be careful about the right time for it. That is, you should at least wait for 48 hours to grout your backsplash because it will help you to prevent cracks and mold inside the gap. You can read instructions given by your manufacturer to properly install the backsplash. Hope this article was helpful enough to you that now you can continue your process properly and at the right time without any hesitation.