Project 22: Fixing the Bubble in our Tile Floor - Part 5 (last part!)

This project has taking many posts, if you're interested you can catch up on parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 here).

Last I left you, we had laid down the new tile, using mortar. That had to sit for a while before we were able to move on to the next step - adding the grout and ceiling it.

Because our project was so small, we went with the pre-mixed grout that comes in a tub. For larger products you can buy a powdered mix that you add water to (much like we did for the mortar). I believe this is the grout we bought from Home Depot.

Adding the grout is pretty easy... you just use a trowel to to push it between tiles and wipe away the excess with a sponge. The tiles look really dirty when the excess grout is on them.

But with a bucket and sponge and a little elbow grease, they go back to looking shiny and new.

We also had a unique little problem area. See, our dining room and kitchen connect by a doorway that has a pocket doors. I love pocket doors, I think they're so neat. But, they do not agree with the normal laminate transition pieces. Pocket doors have to roll onto a flat surface, so we could finish off this room with the normal way. This has left a gap for months:

So we decided the best way to finis this area was with grout. It's a little unconventional, and I wouldn't normally use grout with laminate flooring, but since it is connected to the kitchen, I think it works.
First we had to remove any plastic sticking up from the laminate under lay:

Then the process was just like we did with the tile, only with the laminate we were a little more careful to get less excess on the wood. We tried to keep it all on the tile because that's way easier to clean.

 After the grout was finished we had to let it sit before sealing it. I believe it has to sit 24 hours. Here's something you may not know, grout is not water proof if it is not sealed. See, it feels really solid, but it's very porous. This means liquid can seep down through the grout and get underneath your tiles if you don't seal them properly. We used a sealant much like this one:

It's pretty easy, you just run the sealant over the grout lines like you're using a big marker to color them. They turn slightly darker so it's easier to tell where you've been.

After the sealant was try we were done! No more bubble in the floor!
Before:  (You can't see the bubble in the real before picture, so this is when we had taken up the bubbled tile)

After:

The tiles aren't a perfect match... the house is old and we couldn't find the exact tiles. But it looks WAY better than it did. And I'm researching ways to maybe stain the ties to match. Though, I think the best solution will be to walk on them for a while, get their 'new' sheen off and start matching the other dirt ground into the normal tiles. 

Project Cost: I've been giving you costs as I went, so I'll just add on that this step was about $5 for the grout and $12 for the sealant. 

Time: This one took a while, partly because we had to shop for matching tile and partly because you have to wait between steps. But I think if you have a small area to re-tile and you start on Friday night, you could get it all done in one weekend.

Difficulty: Easier than it looks. There were a lot of steps, and you need some specific tools, but the actual work isn't hard.