I have used this stuff numerous times and I love it! Yes it is more time consuming than sanded and non-sanded grout but it is much more durable. I charge more for it and I sell it to every customer when I do bathrooms. You want to make sure the tile is slightly damp and honestly I try not to get it on the entire tile. I work the grout lines only. Do small areas, remove as much excess as possible then use small circular motion over the grout line, rinse sponge and do one wipe on each side of sponge, rinse and repeat. You will be good.
I have done two recent bathroom renos at my place one using Fusion Pro and one using the Mapei Kerapoxi 2 part epoxy. I followed the instructions with both carefully and got good results with both. Both bathrooms were done with subway tiles, so the gaps were small. Kerapoxi is a crazy race to the finish, with about 40min total time to get it all in and get the cleanup well under way once you mix the two parts. It was high stress, and I had my wife cleaning walls behind me where there was room as I got the epoxy in the joints. It took a good wash after and another using the recommended haze remover and yet another touch up with haze remover on several spots. I preferred the Fusion Pro, since you stop and wash along the way in the process. Working in high desert winter, I found that I needed to work on filling for only 2 minutes then wash the filled area. It took longer to apply the Fusion Pro, but I was able to finish without any need for additional chemical washing to remove haze/residue. I used the recommended grout release applied the day before I grouted which probably helped. The two advantages to the Fusion Pro were the lack of (significant) time stress on amateur grout installers and it also had zero odor. My wife is bothered by chemicals and had no trouble at all. I hate mold and mildew in the shower and cleaning the traditional grout. And who remembers to reseal it every few years? So for me the Kerapoxi and the Fusion Pro are the choices to use. I would use the fusion pro in my next project.
I am an amateur tiler, only done three projects, two with FusionPro, one with traditional grout. I found FusionPro to be an excellent product. You need to work on small areas and try to pack the FusionPro into the grout joints, don't spread it all over your tile (unless you're doing small mosaics). I use a spray bottle with water to moisten the tile surface after spreading. If you develop you're own technique you can come up with a good way to work with this. In my opinion, the final result looks way better than traditional grout.
I did it today. Here are some of my observations/recommendations. The grout in the tub is dry, dry to the point that as much grout crumbles off of your float and into your tub, as you get on the wall! On my last wall I must have pre-moistened the wall with too much water and the grout spread better. I wanted to thin the stuff right from the get-go but the instructions said nothing about that so I hesitated. Since water cleans it up well and the product "dries by evaporation" it seems reasonable that water could be used to make it flow better - it did in my case. I will say, tho, that the easier it flowed onto the wall, the harder it was to get precise lines. When the grout is dry it's easy to run your sponge back and forth and get a precise amount. It was so dry, tho, that I wouldn't be surprised if my lines are a little starved. Dry, it was impossible to pack it in, especially with the quick drying, you just can't spend the time working the grout in. It does dry fast. Not rock hard but enough to make cleaning a drag. Here's what worked best for me. Spread a two-foot line, line only, and scrape with the float at 90 degrees immediately. If you wait longer to scrape the grout dries to the point that it won't scrape with the pad. The less you scrape, and the more time you wait to do so, the more cleaning you will have to do with your sponge. You'll clean so much off the wall that you'll get a quarter-inch layer of sediment in your now milky white water bucket -and I'm talking for every 10 square feet! Changing the water is a headache and cleaning is probably your biggest chore with this grout. I did at most six square feet at a time. Again, the longer you apply, the harder you have to sponge. There is no keeping your tiles from hazing. You can't drag a micro fiber cloth down a plumb wall, so you have to wipe, gently. Inevitably, you wipe some grout off of the faces and back onto the faces. My tiles were glazed ceramic and the haze came off with the nylon pad they recommend. A razor blade scraper can help with bigger blobs. If I had unglazed or porous tiles I'd have to think about sealing them before I used the Fusion Pro, but I'm no expert.
It's been a month. Wiping the wet sponge back and forth over the seams does control the amount of grout you leave in the seam but most of my seams dried rough. The kind of rough that attracts dirt that sticks because of the sand-like bumps. I do have some smooth lines but I don't know how I achieved them. I'm guessing that there is a very small window of time when you can run a damp sponge or your finger WITH the seam that will smooth out the sand but not drag the grout. The smooth seams look much better but I used bright white and it's not very noticeable unless you know what to look for. The grout is rock hard and my corners have not cracked - we'll see once the summer expansion hits the walls tho. I'm still not disappointed tho as I learned a steamer and a toothbrush clean grout well when the time comes.
ok i figured this out! first off i dont do tile for a living, but was taught by a master floor installer. this is how i apply the grout on my 12 x 24 wall and floor tiles, 1) do a single ~24" grout line at a time. 2) put a big dab on float and and work in between tiles til full. 3) rake float across bucket remove excess. then strike at 45 degree angle remove excess from wall or floor. 4) here is the secret! next take float and clean with sponge. take clean float and pull tight at 45 degree angle, basically use it like a squeegee. wipe clean and repeat. wipe tile with CLEAN damp sponge. DONE! 5) buy a quality float, i use QEP 4 in. x 9.5 in. Universal Grout Float. dont try this with a H.D. $5 float, it'll just make it worst. i agree with the pros, its a pain and babysitting cost time and $. if i installed tile for a living ld look at other products. i do like most of customs products, but this one takes time and patients.
I had a professional use Fusion Pro for my new shower install. He used it on the bathroom floor, shower walls and shower basin( floor). This work was performed in summer of 2017. After about 1.5 years I noticed the color started to loose its brightness. We do not use any harsh chemicals to clean the floor. Just soap and water is all that is needed. The color used was bright white. The floor tile grout looked great until the color changed to a kind of light dirty gray. Tried to cleaned the tile with a brush and soap and water but no change. The shower walls seem to be ok but again there is the grout color change like the the bathroom floor grout. The really bad issue is the shower basin/floor grout not only lost it's color but the grout was breaking up in the area where I stand and wash myself. See the photos uploaded. So I am doomed to keep repairing the grout with fusion pro unless I have a contractor come and rip out the floor and start over with super expensive epoxy based grout. I think after I let the grout cure for 7 days I'm going to apply some thompson water seal to the grout and see if that makes a difference.
This is my first time using fusion. The biggest downside of this product for me is low joints. No matter how much I pack in and how light I wipe clean. Another limitation is how much sf you can do at once. 1000sf will probably take 2+days. Be sure to bid accordingly! I'm going to try the spray bottle technique mentioned above next.
I carefully grouted my shower/bath surround with Fusion Pro three days ago and I've noticed that there is a little give or springiness to the grout when I push on it with my fingernail. Is this normal?
after applying and cleaning I did notice there is some haze after a couple of hours. but I don't have the cleaner, will I be able to remove tomorrow after I go buy the cleaning agent mentioned in the video?
This video oversimplifies using this product. Without true closeups of the work, it doesn't show how much haze their leaving on the tiles. Subway tiles are a perfect example. After all this it's so easy mumbo jazz, you have to micro fiber multiple times, then buff the crap out of the whole space. Timing is critical for buffing. Anything over a half hour and your pushing it. The grout haze remover products simply don't work after a day. It's a great product. I have never had a call back using it, and the colors are true. But the installation videos out there do not create a grade AA product. Were not out here in this world to get a C in life. How about a good video that actually makes a perfect product.
Well if you have him use this stuff he is being set up for failure! I feel bad for the guy. Not only will he work way harder than he should, you will blame him when it does not come out well. You should give him a bonus!
Sadly, this stuff is NOT stainproof. The bottom of our 4 year old shower now has orange colored grout, and is not cleanable with any hard water cleaners.
I hate this stuff. Please make sure there are no fans on and no air conditioner on while you are spreading....Matter of fact make sure no one in the whole damm neighborhood has a fan going or air....Also, try not to breathe while working with this stuff, it will cause it to dry to fast....
This is the worst product I ever used! It took longer to grout than it did to set the tiles, and I have a stuck on mess left behind that won't come off! I have done many tile jobs as I am a contractor. The labor involved was at least 5 times what normal grout and sealer would be, and it looks terrible. It also ruined my granite threshold! I cannot get the streaks out of it. Granite was sealed several times too. I tried to clean it off immediately but too late! When you clean it, it looks good until it is dry then the streaks return. All the glazed ceramic tiles are the same way! You have to be kidding me Home Depot!
Horrible experience idk if the ztuff i got waz half way dried up but. It j7st made z huge mess. Yez i carefully read the directiions. Using normal grout is the way to go not t9 mention it says wait 7 days before introuducing to water. I qould never g3t this stuff again
Well my stuff is about 10 times thicker than what they're using in this vid. I can't even do one full 12×24 tile without getting haze. This stuff is a bitch to work with.
jesus christ what a fucking mess. i've seen all the videos but nothing prepared me for this mess. none of them mention the soupy mess of shit you have on the floor as you're trying to apply this to a wall. i had an adult standing there doing nothing but helping me with clean water - so it was fast. but it quickly degenerated into soupy mess. even with 2 adults wringing with all their strength, you get a shit result. i guess i need an industrial press to squeeze enough water to deal with this. what a horrific experience.
ok follow up. i decided to give it one more try. and i ended up with decent results. my advice. First, forget the grout float. Simply put you can't smooth this stuff over the tiles. Unless perhaps you're a professional I don't know. Or you water it down. really, you have to surgically place the material into each gap. NOT over the tile itself. What worked best? a plastic paint scraper. seriously. It was the exact width of the tile (4 inches) and allowed me to manipulate without a bulky float and without covering tiles. (not sure why but all vidoes show this being laid down on the floor - none of them show working on the walls). You simply can't work this on walls with a float (or even without). Next, have a partner refresh buckets quickly. You do need to wash it quickly. They say don't overwash - ignore this. I washed it numerous times. at least 3 times with a sponge and then twice again with the micofiber. Anything less left a bad result. and i sometimes did more. Now on the washing. with a wall with cracks, you can't simply drag a microfiber over the surface. ignore this. use your hands and wash it with the microfiber twice. once on each side of the cloth. And of course you have to watch the absolute mess you get on the floor. I never found a way around this. It is so difficult to manage on the walls that the floor ends up a mess. But you don't want this stuff to dry hard on the floor. So keep the floor clean. between the walls and the floor, i kept needing to wash constantly. so having a helper refresh buckets quickly was key. in summary - this stuff is MUCH harder to work with than traditional stuff. I hope it was worth it in the stain fighting properties. But it can be done. it will frustrate you and make a mess. it was like 2 hours of beat the clock. apply in cracks only. wash frequently. forget the float and use a plastic paint scraper the size of your tile. and keep on top of the floor mess. Good luck.
+ProfessionalDad We're sorry to hear that this product didn't work for your application. Like all of our products, we find that education and training are important. Feel free to give us a call at 800-282-8786 if you would like us to walk you through the installation techniques for this next generation grout solution. All of today's new Single Component grouts install in a similar way to Fusion Pro. Video: Understanding the differences between Fusion Pro and cement grouts: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uJqN01rERVI.html Video: Pros talk about their experience with Fusion Pro: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-63o97alJGkg.html
