You have come this far, the tile is down and cut to size, you have mixed the grout, and you don’t want to mess up the ceramic tile project now. It could all blow up in your face at this point. The grout in the joints is still soft, since you just put it down.

To avoid making a mistake, you have to strike the grout joints the correct way. As seen in the older grout, there are no holes or imperfections in the tile joints. In the new grout (1:15), there are some holes or low or high spots. To smooth out the grout joints, get a large bucket of clean water and a large grout sponge. A grout sponge is a special sponge with rounded corners. It has no sharp edges like a standard sponge.

Wet the sponge and squeeze all the water out of it. It is critical to get out as much water as possible. You don’t want to put extra water on the grout. Too much water will dilute the cement in the grout and ruin it. It will crumble and fall apart.

Once all the water is out of the sponge, take it and lightly rub across the grout joint. You will notice that the rough, sandy grout now takes on a smooth, even finish. Just barely touch the sponge to the grout. If you are matching new grout with old grout, you have to blend it. Push a little of the new over onto the old to blend it together.

Be sure to rinse the sponge frequently. Keep it clean. Use a light circular motion over the grout joints. Use very little pressure - just a gently wiping to smooth the grout. Flip the sponge over to get another clean side. If you push down hard on the sponge, you will dig the grout out of the crack.

Be sure not to grout too large of an area. If you grout too much, you won’t be able to clean up and smooth the excess grout before it starts to set up. If it dries before you get to it, the project can be ruined.

At this point, the surface of the ceramic tiles will still be covered with lots of grout residue. This film needs to be cleaned up before it dries and you have a nightmare on your hands. To clean the surface, wet and squeeze the water out of the sponge and gently wipe in long strokes across the tiles. The grout residue will start to come up in the sponge. Repeat until the tile is cleaned. Pull across the tile very light and let it float over the joints. You need to remove as much of the grout film off as possible.

Even after this is complete, there will be one final cleanup step. Watch the Finishing Floor Grout Video for this final step.