Contemporary design often uses contrasting grout color I've noticed and it looks great! My flooring design center also suggests matching the grout to the tile "wood" planks. I am going with this idea since my home and neighborhood are not contemporary in style. What grout color is used in the photo above? It does not apear to Match the floor color.
ddmauz

Our neighborhood and home will not contemporary either, and we like the smoother look of the wood-tile with the tone of the grout matching. We are going with a dark wood,almost espresso in tone. I do not know the color of the grout in this photo, but it looks to be a cream or light beige.

Hi! We used a slightly lighter grout on this tile, and it fills in the grain nicely, providing contrast and depth.

Installation of walnut colored, wood-plank tile with matching grout is done at my house now. The tile shines and the grout does not. This makes the grout appear to be a lighter color. The color is not as rich or deep as the tile. Images of the same had me thinking the grout didn't match. I asked the installer his thoughts about matching or contrasting grout. He pointed out how matching grout hides both tile edge imperfections and any potential install imperfections.

I would go dark to simulate the board seams, and also use small joints 1/8 inch or so. That will draw attention to the tile, not the grout.

I agree with Jeremy and that is also what our tile person told us. The tile we will be using is colored through the tile too, so that is case of wear or chipping, there will not be a light spot that would stand out...i think thats an important question to ask if choosing the wood look in a dark color.

Also, make sure they stagger the joints further apart and randomly (unlike in the picture).

We were going with the plan of the smallest grout line possible...to look like the "boards" are almost butting to each other.....this will require a more skilled person to lay it, and probably will account for slightly more cost in labor

I would go with an exact matching grout color to mimic the look of a real wood floor.
I've had a few customers select a lighter grout joint and were on the fence after it was completed.

here are projects we have done in and around Tampa, Florida
http://www.houzz.com/projects/59896/Porcelain-Plank-Wood-Look-Tile-Installations-Tampa--Florida

I agree that the grout should match the color of the wood-look tile.

I would go with an exact matching grout color to mimic the look of a real wood floor. We were going with the plan of the smallest grout line possible

What color grout would best Match this tile terra cotta or espresso

Ok....I have to respectfully disagree with most of the opinions about grout color. For a more realistic look the grout color needs to be considerably darker than the floors. My floors are a dark walnut color and we will be using BLACK grout. It will more closely mimic real wood floors if you use a very dark brown, brown-black, or black grout. I will post pics when complete. So I agree with Legacy Floors. One more thing...NO REPEATING PATTERNS! It's best to lay tiles in a random pattern.

@Susandm8 Mullen Did you finish the job yet? I would love to see a photo.

I agree...it looks less like tile and more like wood if grout is darker or matches. I did this same exact thing and it looks great.

my builder used a black grout and it will not stop coming up black. It has been sealed 4 times and cleaned numerous times and is still coming up!

@ourprojectbegins

Thanks for your post and the pictures on your blog.

We are just installing a Cerdisa Chalet Ciliego, a rough-sawn wood-looking porcelain tile in a large area.

http://www.ceramichecerdisa.it/chalet/product_en_315395.aspx

I was already leaning towards grout color darker than the darkest parts of our tiles and not necessarily matching the brown tones. When I look at any authentic rough-sawn floors---new or old---the gaps are always darker because there is either a shady dark gap between the boards on new floors or dark "antique dirt" on old floors. It's never light colored and I think that light-colored grout would immediately show it’s a tile.

I believe that the principles for grout color selection for wood-grain tiles are different from all other tiles where the grout supports the "masonry" look of the surface.

We will experiment with charcoal Fusion Pro grout this week in an area under the cabinets and I hope to be able to post something on our final selection and results.

boulderfield...you are absolutely correct about grout colors and the "look" they give! Good luck with your project.

Many people still must find this thread and I have received a lot of questions about the blog link that I shared, so I have decided to do a sequel to that link to answer some of the common wood look tile questions people have asked me. Here is the address to the new post.
Hope this helps you Houzzers.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7820978096410719573#editor/target=post;postID=1108929748457910106;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname

ourprojectbegins:

You reminded me that I never posted picture of our finished floor.

We did settle on charcoal Fusion Pro grout for our Cerdisa Chalet Ciliego tiles. The sample we did looked great and we used the same pitch black grout through the entire floor. As a point of interest, the grout is so black that it doesn't reflect any noticeable light. When we were inspecting the sample area I was briefly confused because I thought there was no grout there at all and I was just looking into the dark gaps. Shortly, exactly the look I was trying to achieve. We are very happy with our choice. All our visitors so far had to be told that it is not a real wood floor---the tiles are very believable and there is no "visible" grout to give the game away. With regular use the grout is not as pitch black as brand new but still very dark. I’m glad that we did not go with the conventional idea if matching the grout color tone to the tile. The information in this thread was an important factor in our decision making. Thank you all.

Attached are two pictures:

The above posted link to "ourprojectbegins blog" is incorrect. I believe this is the correct URL:

http://ourprojectbegins.blogspot.com/2014/10/black-is-new-blackthe-sequel.html

It's worth reading---the reasoning is explained there in detail and well documented by pictures.

Looks amazing! Enjoy your wood-looking tile. I am enjoying mine.

Thanks @boulderfield! Your project looks fantastic!!! I did copy the wrong link. You are right, it is:

http://ourprojectbegins.blogspot.com/2014/10/black-is-new-blackthe-sequel.html

@boulderfield- I am looking to use that same Charcoal fusion pro grout. The Custom Building Products rep just told me that it looked like a dark gray, is that true? I can't tell based on your photo. It looks awesome by the way!!

@kamberm2005:

No, not dark gray. Not in my experience. It's better: pitch black.

I was pretty confident that Charcoal Fusion as what I wanted but I had the tile installers do one test section under bathroom cabinets first. I could not be there during the day and when I came to check on it the installers were gone. I turned on the light in the bathroom and my first thought was: Oh, they didn't get to do it today. I couldn't see any grout. I knelt down, touched on of the gaps with my finger nails, and to my surprise, felt grout surface. I just couldn't see it. It was pitch black and it didn't seem to reflect any light. It looked just like there was dark void between the tiles. It was the look I wanted.

Today, after living with the floors for half a year, with children and pets, the grout accumulated some dirt and it doesn't look as black as when it was brand new. It is still very dark and it doesn't give the impression of looking at grout. It seems just like a gap between the boards. It's very authentic looking---one of the best decisions I made on the house.

Good luck with your floors and let us know how it came out.

_____

P.S. It is important to keep cleaning the tile surfaces as you proceed with the grouting. It is black and it makes black smudges, of course. The installers took good care and it did not seem to give them any problems. It is work but it comes off these ceramic tiles.

One more comment: We were able to keep the gaps really narrow because these particular tiles are very precise and level. I think that it contributes to the final effect. I do not know how it would look with substantially wider gaps.

@boulderfield- Thank you for that! I am getting so excited. I chose the same tile that @ourprojectbegins chose. Thank you all!

On a related subject: I extended the same “dark fill” concept to our first floor stained concrete floors. We have deep saw-cut expansion joints and I was looking for a way to not have them accumulate dirt and grime. We installed backer rods and filled the cuts with caulk. I chose bronze, the darkest color tone of the Tower Tech 2 caulk line. It is darker than the colors of the stained concrete and it looks great.

My installer mixes grout sealer in with the grout before applying it. I had asked him before he started the work and he told me that's what he does. Honestly I don't know if he used it everywhere but he did do it in the shower. The water just beads off the grout. I haven't had any stains in that grout so far and it's been just a little less than 2 years since installation. This concept might be something you would want to consider.

@lelabelle- good idea! I have heard of that. A few guys have told me it can alter the grout color, did you have any problems with that?

Re: Adding sealer to grout before you apply it?

I understand that some experienced pros used to do it (similarly to lelabelle’s contractor) but advise against it now, as described in this opinion:

“In the old days prior to 1990 or so, when grouts were
not polymer modified yet, we would mix liquid polymer
admixes into the grout as a substitute for water. This
would make the grout more stain resistant and make
the color more consistent, but it doesn't truly seal it.

Possibly his contractor mixed polymer modified powder
with additional liquid admix, which is wrong and shouldn't
be done.”

http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/adding-sealer-to-grout-before-you-apply-it-185661-.htm

It seems that this technique had its justification with traditional grout. I would shy away from modifying any of the modern grout products, like the premixed, ready to use, single component Fusion Pro. There are good comments about it in the Home Depot reviews that I think are worth reading. It’s a brave new world out there and things can get confusing. I know as I went through it myself.

http://reviews.homedepot.com/1999/203705517/custom-building-products-fusion-pro-60-charcoal-1-gal-single-component-grout-reviews/reviews.htm

I did not watch them mix it. It was done while I was away from the house... they just told me that is how they do it. I have not noticed any color differences or any problems with it at all.

Does anyone know if the color of the grout can be changed afterwards. Ours looks like the first picture being a lot lighter, but that is not what I wanted. It bothers me that it does not blend in.

Your only option is grout dye, which is sold at tile supply shops and it's messy.

Rouhorchuk,

Friends of ours installed earlier the same Cerdisa Chalet
Ciliego I am showing above and chose to match the tile tone with the grout. It
didn’t come up the same way as on the color scale. They didn’t like it and
ended up dyeing the grout---and just as legacyfloors says, it was a messy and
labor intensive project. It made it look better but it still doesn’t get the
same effect as ours.

We benefited from their experience and since I was
already leaning towards dark grout we went with charcoal, the darkest they
make. I never regretted it. I strongly advise anyone installing wood-look tile
to consider black grout.

boulderfield, would you be able to show a picture of your tile with the dark grout? Here is ours with the light.

It is a large room that goes to the kitchen, 1/2 bath, family room, and kitchen eating area.

rouhorchuk, it's posted above (earlier in this thread). Half
a year later, it still looks like the picture from last October. You notice it
doesn't look "black". Regular wear lightens it up. In my opinion, one
can't go too dark on grouting wood look tiles. It looks great with pitch black grout when
first installed and it still looks good when it lightens up a little with use,
i.e. it accumulates a some dirt particles that reflect light.

@ boulderfield: We are thinking of laying rectified Porcelain wood look tile as well and live in Arizona. We like the Marazzi Cambridge Oak Brown (http://www.marazziusa.com/products/porcelain-stoneware/color-body-porcelain/cambridge-oak)
Does a 9''x36'' tile size look better than a 6"x36".
Also what color grout would you suggest with it and safe to go with a 1/16'' thick grout? lastly what brand of grout did u use?
Thanks in advance!

@ umairav7:

1. Size: I don't know what width will "look better" to you. We've decided to alternate 5" and 8" widths to break up the pattern. After all, you are emulating the look and feel of hand manufactured boards. You want precision to control the joint width but you don't want it to look "precise". We like our results and would do it again. See picture above.

2. Color: Black, the darkest you can find, for the same reasons discussed above.

3. Safe: I can't rule anything "safe to go". Do a sample in a hidden area or a mock up on a piece of ply. We did it on a section under bathroom counters, liked the results, and then did the entire floor. See discussion above.

4. Grout: Fusion Pro, Charcoal. The darkest they make. Also, pay attention to a timely cleanup of the unavoidable tile surface smudging I've mentioned above.

Good luck with your decision making and the final product!

I am about to start with big renovations and woodtile is my choice for the floors throughout the house. I am most interested to see your finished project.

thankx! will keep everyone updated:)

nothing like ultra white grout to set off dark tiles, especially 16 x 16. cant go wrong 10 years from now when trends change AGAIN.

@boulderfield This is the photo I found online for the Chalet Ciliegio tiles, but it looks a bit different in color than yours. This appears to have a more red tone. I'm wondering if this is the same tile? I'd love your input! Thank you! (Here's the site I found: http://www.ceramichecerdisa.it/chalet/product_en_315395.aspx)

please I would like to know if this is ceramic tile or real wood

porcelain (ceramic) tile.

@wendykusz

Wendy, I think that the real colors are closer to my picture but I would not trust digital photographs and their rendition on a computer screen. Cameras may interpret colors based on light and surroundings and the same digital photo will look differently on different displays. I don't remember when I took a snapshot of our tiles posted above but they would probably show a little more red in sunrise or sunset light. You need to see a sample of the real tile. Good luck with the selection.

We plan to install Arizona Tile in the color Miele (honey). Will smallest spacing with black grout be too dark?

Love this thread. I posted a new discussion earlier, trying to decide on grout color. I wanted black - but my contractor looked like I'd just asked him to do something very wrong when I mentioned it.

I read this thread and I am sticking to my guns. Will use Marazzi Treverkchic in Italiano with the #60 Charcoal grout mentioned above.

Thank you to everyone who shared opinions here. It helped me so much! I will post some pics of the floor when it's done in a couple of months.

@Kim Lund is that what you ended up doing? id love to see a picture of your flooring finished. I’m looking at using treverkchic.