Grout Out

When whoever put work into our house previously, whoever had a penchant for doing a pretty half-assed job. In our kitchen, the old counter top (probably a pretty neat but very pink formica job from the 50s) was covered with cheap floor tiles. It actually turned out better than one might imagine.

The downside of having floor tiles on your kitchen counter, and probably the reason most people don't, is that thin gutters between the tiles all over the countertop naturally collect food, grit and grime. Over time, the grout between the tiles, at the bottom of those gutters, becomes stained dark, greasy and icky.

Our small task was to get that old grout out, and refill the gutters between the tiles with clean grout.

(This is neither here nor there, but we chose the color "Bone". It's the right color, but it's a little scary to be using an unknown ground-up material called "Bone" on your kitchen countertop. Anyway...)

We used a handy little low-tech grout knife...


... to scrape away at the old grout. Then we bleached the countertop, and applied new Bone grout.

BEFORE


DURING


AFTER


It was a four-hour job that makes a very noticeable difference in the way the kitchen looks, but now we have to wait a couple days to seal the countertop. The sealant protects the grout a bit, so the next time there's a spill, there'll be less staining.



PS
We had an ice storm last night. Most stuff in the city is having a delayed opening, but not Brown and not the VA. Providence's pigeons are sick and tired of the lousy weather.