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How to protect painted grout in kitchen

Hi all,

Hoping to get some advice from the more experienced people here. I'm a new to diy and need some advice on tiled kitchen splashback.

The splashback is tiled and about 20 years old and there's silicone on the grout in the area behind the cooking hob, resulting in lumpy bits of silicone (not smoothed out) that has discolored due to grease, dirt, etc.

I've removed and scraped off the silicone as best I can and cleaned the grout with mould killer. In certain areas some grout must have come off resulting in a few small indentations in the grout (hence maybe the reason for silicone in the past).

Now that the grout is cleaned, I've painted them with Selleys Grout stain whitener. My worry now is whether this will withstand the high traffic area (behind cooking range and sink area) as they seem to come off easily if I wipe the grout area with a damp cloth (it's been 24 hours after painting it).

Attached the before photos.

For these areas, should I:

1. Seal them with grout sealer?

2. Seal them with clear silicone?

Thanks so much. Any advise is mich appreciated!

Cheers

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EricL

Hi @novice_diyer

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's great to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about sealing grout.

The person who originally placed silicone on the grout lines was on the right track. However, they missed the final step of smoothing out the silicone and that's why you have that lumpy finish. The grout sealer is usually used directly on the grout itself and not on top of the Selleys 280g Grout Stain Whitener. However, an extra layer of protection won't hurt. I'm just not sure how the sealer will react with the Selleys Whitener. I suggest testing it on a small corner and seeing if there is a chemical reaction. If there is none then you can seal the entire area.

If you decide to re-silicone the area, I suggest smoothing out the finish to give you a nice clean look.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your grout sealed and ready for use.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to apply bathroom sealant

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

novice_diyer

Hi @EricL

Thank you for your recommendations.

Would you be able to recommend a grout sealer?

If i were to go down the path of using silicone, just wondering is it normal to use silicone on a wall of tiles (not the corner joints)? My worry is getting a straight line of silicone, smoothing it and not having a squiggly or lumpy line that is inconsistent in width =). Any advice for me?

Cheers

Eve

EricL

Hi @novice_diyer

In order to get perfect lines of silicone, I suggest using ScotchBlue 24mm x 55m Original Multi-Surface Painter’s Masking Tape. It may be a bit tedious, but it will give you perfect grout lines every time. You can even do corner joints, the masking tape will work in those conditions as well.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to silicone seal a bath

This guide shows the way to use masking tape on tiles.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

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