Yet another wood-look tile/grout color question

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hello all! I've seen the numerous wood-look tile/grout questions posted in this forum and wanted to present yet another dilemma. I'm using Marazzi Merona Natural wood tile and have two options for grout: one is darker and one is similar, but not quite the same. I've done a mock up (not a professional job by any means) to try to get a sense of what each grout might look like. I'm torn. The dark emulates the darker edges that real wood planks would have, but the grout will be 3/16" - much wider than spacing between wood planks. The lighter option looks pretty close, but it's a smidge too...orange? I wonder if it'd be better to go with the darker grout rather than a color that's close but not quite there. What do y'all think?

Featured Answer

HU-428589325

2 years ago

Mapei Ultracolor "Chamois" is a winner in my opinion. We used it for Marazzi Merona Natural and it is the perfext happy medium to blend into the tile and let it shine. Anything much lighter or darker and the grout lines will command focus.

Note: this stuff is extremely sensitive to water content. Take care to mix it properly and not overwash, otherwise it will dry lighter than you want (this happened to us in some spots). There's always grout colorant if this happens to you.

Chamois pictured below with Marazzi Merona Natural. It's a special tile!

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Comments (12)

User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Neither. You want the background color of the wood, which is much lighter than either. Flexcolor CQ in Bone. Or Harvest.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/MAPEI-Flexcolor-CQ-1-Gallon-Bone-Acrylic-Premix-Grout/50333395

Harvest.
HU-775540179 thanked User
Beth H. :
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Neither.

I like a lighter one, but not the one you picked. that one is too red.

And for sure I would NOT go dark.

Mapei, left, two on the right are Custom Products.

I like these colors better.

this is their Dapple Gray Merona tile. your lines will be like this. but notice how the grout color is an exact match. neither too dark or too light.

light grout.

more rustic looking tile, same grout spacing, darker color. I think w/this flooring you could get away w/a darker grout color because of the darker veining colors.

this one used a darker grout, but the grout lines are thinner. I wouldn't like it if it had the thicker joints

Merona Natural tile.
HU-775540179 thanked Beth H. :
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HU-775540179
Original Author
6 years ago
That sandstone color looks like it would be perfect! Unfortunately, my builder does not offer those grout options :( The two I posted were the closest match we could find. I'm now wondering if it would be better to change the tile entirely and find one that does work with the available grouts.
Beth H. :
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
what grout company is he using?

And perhaps you can ask him if you pay for the grout yourself, can they use it? (I mean, why wouldn't they? grout won't cost you more than $100. and that's for a large sq footage)

find out when grouting day is and have the grout ready to go. tell the tile guys to use it instead of what the builder is allowing. no one will know
HU-775540179 thanked Beth H. :
HU-775540179
Original Author
6 years ago
They are using Mapei grout. I'm not sure why they didn't have the full range of colors. Maybe I just didn't see the ones you suggested on the left? I am working with a national builder - perhaps there are more restrictions on the materials they can use? Not too sure. Providing my own grout is a smart idea - I will definitely bring that up at my design meeting. Thank you so much for your suggestions!
J P
5 years ago
What color grout did you end up using ?
Tammie Holt
last year
It looks so nice, did you end up using 3/16" spacing? This is our top pick and I want as little grout as possible, the distributor says we can go with 1/8".
Tammie Holt
last year
It looks beautiful. Did you end up using 3/16" grout spacing?
HU-428589325
last year
We went with 1/8“. Personally I wouldn’t go wider. Here are a few more photos of Chamois. If I could go just a tiny bit darker, i would, but it looks really nice as is.
Tammie Holt
last year
Thank you for the reply! This information is so helpful, how is the tile holding up? Was this about 3 or 4 years ago? The additional photos may not have come through yet.
W C
last year
Yes I'm curious about how it look now. Glad to know that you went with 1/8" grout line. Was it rectified tile? Thanks!