Laying Down the Grout Before Regrout Tile

Mix the grout. Mix the grout in one of the 5 gallon (19 L) buckets using a drill with a mixing attachment or paddle mixer. Do an initial mix and then let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then mix the grout again. You may not want to mix it all at once. Just mix up a few cups at a time.

Apply the grout. Apply a generous amount of grout to your grout joints along your tile floor using the rubber grout float. Be sure to distribute extra grout into the grout joints in order to fill them completely. Grout all areas of your tile floor except the expansion joints; these are the areas between the floor tile and bathtub, wall, door, and cabinet or sink area.

The rubber grout float is a rectangular, flat tool with a steel handle and rubber surface used to distribute grout. Hold the rubber grout float at a 30 degree angle and distribute grout across the surface of the tile floor. Keep in mind that it is important to work quickly because the grout will harden in a short amount of time.

Remove excess. Remove the excess grout from the tile floor once every grout joint has been filled. Do this by going over the tile with the rubber grout float, only this time use it at a sharp angle and move it diagonally across the tile floor in order to scrap the excess grouting material off. Moving diagonally avoids detaching recently laid grout from the grout joints.

Let the grout set and prepare bucket. Let grout set for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. While the grout is setting, fill your second 5 gallon (19 L) bucket with water and grab your tile sponge to clean the tile floor. Prepare your sponge. Dip the tile sponge in the bucket of water and wring out any excess water leaving a damp tile sponge.