Wednesday, July 27, 2011

finishing the hexagonal table

rubbing in the grout with the heel of my hand

wiping away the excess grout
 I'm finally finishing the hexagonal table.  This morning (it's not so hot, now) I took the table outside--I knew I was going to make a mess getting grout into the edge tiles, and I wanted to be sure I could get the table through the door.....
--and I mixed up the grout with the acrylic admix, then spread it across the table, pushing the grout into the interstices between the tiles with the heel of my hand.  I wouldn't normally do this outside, since the grout would dry too fast, so I had to work quickly.  After the entire table was 'grouted', I dampened an old sponge and began to wipe off the excess grout.  It took several passes, squeezing the sponge out as much as possible each time.  I didn't want to flood the table with water.  After most of the grout was wiped off with the sponge, I then used an old rag to wipe and polish the surface.  Finally, when the grout had dried enough not to be wiped out, I scrubbed the surface of the tiles with a green scrubbie.  After the grout has completely dried, I'll seal it with a grout sealant. The sealant is brushed onto the grout, and after a few minutes, is wiped off of the tiles. 
scrubbing off the film of grout, then sealing the grout