Sanded Or Unsanded Grout For Carrara Marble

Non sanded grout is designed for grout joints 1 8 wide or less.
Sanded or unsanded grout for carrara marble. I ve used a buffing machine with burlap and dry grout to finish off commercial grout installations before. Unsanded grout is often the best choice for smooth polished tiles like marble even if the joint width is 1 8 or larger. This is a huge determining factor when choosing between sanded vs. Think of sanded grout as the default choice grout for everything except for a few outliers that absolutely require unsanded grout.
Over time the exposed sand at the surface of the grout may loosen from the surface and the sand may actually scratch the stone. Usually most contractors use an epoxy based unsanded grout in these situations not traditional sanded or unsanded grout. The only thing that determines whether you use sanded or unsanded grout is the width of the grout joints. 1 8 wide grout joints can use either one but sanded grout tends to be more stable and doesn t shrink as much.
Sanded grout should be your default choice for general use tiling such as for flooring and walls. I ve heard several people including pros discuss the problem of scratching polished marble. 1 8 and over sanded. Always use unsanded grout when working with a soft smooth polished tile like limestone or marble since abrasive sanded grout will likely scratch its surface.
Sanded grout is widely available has the greatest range of mixed color choices and reduces grout shrinkage.