ok you can see we just completed a brandnew tile installation. we are using 12 by 12 porcelain tile with grout jointsapproximately 1/8" using sanded grout down below where the tile meets the tub.you can see we have a very small grout joint and that's a very importantfor maintenance issues. the larger the grout joint typically results in groutstarting to crack causing issues that most people use some type of siliconecaulk to solve. we know that silicone and caulk is generally a short lived fix. we also know that using the epoxybond will provide a more permanent fix that will not result in grout cracking. we also want to address our shampooniche and window especially where you
see our surface bullnose pieces touchingthe window. we want to run a bead all the way across and up the sides as well. we know that epoxy bond is 99 percent waterproof. so we are adding protection to our shampooniche, window, and down below where the cuts meet the tub. so now that everything has been cleaned andready to go we are ready to start mixing our epoxybond. generally one-half of a kit is plenty to do one tub surround. that meansusing two ounces of the white resin and one ounce of hardener. i like to use aclear mixing cup that way i know the resin and hardener has been completelymixed thoroughly. generally i will take approximately sixty seconds to mix
you want to make sure and mix thoroughlyand don't forget to get the bottom of the cup. now we are ready to start addingare sanded cement-based grout. i have found that five to six cups of grout willgive us the perfect consistency when using one-half of a kit of epoxy bond. i also liketo add anywhere between one to two cups of grout at a time. it's also important to note that you do want to mixthe epoxy bond to a thicker paste consistency. if you've ever used siliconeor caulk, that is a pretty close consistency that we're looking for.something that will hold its shape.
something that will not collapse as it'sbeing squeezed out of the syringe. if you mix the epoxy bond too thin or too looseit can cause the material to run down vertical areas causing a mess. you knowyou have it right when you are applying the epoxy bond with the syringe and asit's coming out of the tip, it maintains its shape. and here you can see that we arestarting to get that nice thick consistency. you can see how it's holding it'sshape. it's not collapsing inside the cup. you can see how nice and thick that is. makinga nice thick consistency will make applying the epoxy bond so much easier to use. ournext step is to simply add the epoxy bond to the body of our syringe. and i liketo use a sports bottle to hold the
syringe which frees up your hands and yousimply pour to the top of the body these syringes are rated at one ounce, butif you fill them to the top they actually hold more than that. and that'sexactly where i like. i do not like to trap any air between thatplunger. you can see how we have material that is starting to ooze out of thebody of the syringe and you can see how much material we used to fill that. here i'm illustrating the thickness of the material coming out of the tip. i will use a sports bottle to hold thesyringe during the application. now it's time to apply the epoxy bond. do not worryabout trying to be perfect with the
application. epoxy bond is very forgiving.you do want to have enough material flowing out of the tip of the syringe. i will go aheadand put the syringe back into the sports bottle. one tip. i do like to usethe measurement cup that you see in my hand to hold the excess grout you can reuse this material. so thereshould be very little waste. this is one reason why i can get much more coveragethan what has been advertised. once you smoothe the epoxy bond with your finger,you will go ahead and take your micro fiber towel and again i like to usehot water. it works so much nicer than cool water. warm water works too but generallythe hotter the water, the easier the wiping.
you can see here i am doing sections ofthe tub. you do not have to run a bead all the way around the entire tub andthen wipe. i will go ahead and begin where i left. you can see how muchmaterial has been used so far out of the syringe here i'm showing you that i am pulling the plunger backwards.what that does is keeps the material from oozing out of the tip. i will goahead and recycle the material back into my cup. use your finger. remove the excess you can also see that the epoxy bond does provide for very close color matching.you can use any color sanded cement based grout.
here i'm just using the leftover groutthat was used during the original grouting application you can see how much material has beenused so far. if you've ever used silicone or caulk, thisis the same principle. in my opinion epoxy bond is much easier to use than a100% silicone. the reason why i think epoxy bond iseasier to use than silicone is because you cannot use water for any type ofcleaning up. you have to apply a perfect bead the first time, and if you have anyresidue or any cleanup necessary you need to use a strong chemical such asacetone
the caulk, whether it's a latex oracrylic can be cleaned up using warm water similar to epoxy bond,but does not hold up to wet areas and generally results with some type of mildew orfungus issue that requires complete removal all of the product. here i'mshowing how much material was used and now we're going to refill the syringe. this will be the second time that we fill the syringe. as you can see the materialhas become thicker. epoxy bond is not a fast setting epoxy, you do have approximately60 minutes ofworking time. again you want to fill to the top andthen insert the plunger. i like to squeeze the plunger into the body down maybe aquarter inch.
here i'm illustrating the consistency that is comingout to tip. its nice and thick, it's holding it's shape. it's perfect. another common area where grout tendsto crack is if you have a tile floor where it meets the face of the tub, sowhy not apply a nice bead there. we are using one half of a kit to do this bathroom. if youdid not have a shampoo niche or a window, you would be done. wiping the epoxy bondis very easy, especially using the hot water and the microfiber towel. that is reallythe key. also good idea to apply a bead at ourshampoo niche. this just gives us that one additional layer of protection in keeping that waterfrom getting under the tile. using grout
sealers, and it does not matter whatbrand or what type of sealers, do not offer any type of waterproofing or waterresistance. epoxy bond is 99 percent waterproof. you can see how the color matching isvery good. if you do have a window inside your your shower, you want to apply a beadwhere the tile meet the window. it's very common to see grout starting to crack away between those two areas. we also know that using a silicone caulk willgenerally develop some type of mold or fungus issue that results in a blackcolor. if that happens, you need to completely remove that silicone and caulk completely and make sure the area iscompletely free of any type of silicone
or caulk residue and then you could go ahead and apply your epoxy bond. so you can see here idecided to try and apply epoxy bond with my finger just to show howforgiving this material is. i am purposely trying to make a mess herejust to show that you do not have to be so precise in applying this material. yeswe do have more waste using this method, but you can see i just made a big messusing my finger. by using this microfiber towel and hot water, and hot water reallyis the key, it really cuts through and it gets backdown to the surface of the tile so you can see, now the result looks justlike as if i was using the syringe. i
thought it was important to illustratethat you do not have to be exact and precise in applying epoxy bond. yesthere is more waste involved but you don't have to worry about ruining yourtile as long as you wipe up the excess. at this point of the application you'll befine. epoxy bond dries extremely hard so you do not wantto let the material dry. you have plenty of working time. approximately 60 minutes from when you havefirst mixed the resin and hardener. so now we have applied epoxy bond toall the areas needing application. here i'm illustrating how much material isleft. you can see that it is starting to
get even more thick, but is still veryworkable this is the third time that i have filled the syringe. you can see that i will use my finger to help getthe material into the body of the syringe. so we have filled the syringe three times sofar and we still have leftovers. you can see that even though the material hasbecome thicker, it still flows out of the tip. i'm illustrating how much material ihave leftover. i'm applying this to a 12 inch tile so we have two linear foot ofmaterial. keep in mind that this material, i'musing more than i typically would for corners. that being said, you can stillsee how much is left over.
keep in mind we did the tub surround, allthe way around where the tile meets the tub including the floor. we did our shampooniche and then we also did our window. and you can still see we have a little bit left over and not includingthe excess that was used and scraped into our little mixing cup whichis approximately one-half ounce. these are one ounce measurement cups. hope you enjoyed the video. epoxy bondis available at www..thegroutstore.com and amazon thanks for watching