QUESTION

30"×60" rectified porcelain. Doing job for builder in his personal house. End of job and he's complaining he wants grout joints completely flush. There is a slight bevel on edges and I used the ramondi lippage system with 1/16" spacer which gives 3/32" once you crank down. I tried spreading unsanded , letting it dry , and buffing it out with machine in a test area. He's still not happy. I'm suspicious he's not wanting to pay since we're at the end. Its honestly the nicest tile floor I've ever done and I've been at it for 19 years and grew up doing flooring with dad. I pre-mudded the whole house level 2000' and used 1/4" notch euro trowel on floor and back of tile in same direction. Any suggestions on the grout situation? I want to make the customer happy but I've explained that I'm not a magician.

ANSWER

ANSWER - Per ANSI A108.10 Installation of grout in Tilework, it says that all grout joints shall be uniformly finished. Cushion edge tile shall be finished evenly to the depth of the cushion.

The grout should be installed at the bottom of the bevel so it is slightly concave.  You don't want the grout joint full and flush, because the grout will tend to get dirty from foot traffic.

Some say the concave grout joint will collect dirty water was cleaning the floor and then evaporate leaving the residual dirt.  But the residual water shouldn't be dirty.  If the floor is cleaned and scrubbed with a tile cleaner and then picked up with a wet/dry vacuum, and then rinsed with clean water, and then picked up with a wet/dry vacuum, the grout joint should say clean.