This may seem like a no brainer but when you are thinking about what kind of grout to use for your next tile job what kind of grout are you going to use. Off the top you might assume that epoxy grout is your best option and most of the time you’d be correct. However, this is not always the case. There are a lot of good reasons why you could argue that epoxy grouts are number one. Epoxy grouts have higher compressive strength and they are more stain resistant than cement based grouts but to be honest I don’t believe they are stain free and you don’t always need the “strongest” grout for many applications.

I like epoxy grouts. Residentially, commercially or institutionally I believe they are the best grout to use on your floors if you are using a good glazed ceramic or high quality porcelain tile. I’m not a fan of epoxy grouts with natural stone tile or for most wall tile installations.

Stone tile have to be sealed no matter what so the stain thing doesn’t really apply and unless you are grouting polished granite tiles the possibility that your grout may stain your natural stone is too high to take the chance of using an epoxy grout. Finally the epoxy grout may be so much harder than your tile that your stone tile can suffer from cracking at the transition between the stone tile and the joint lines. With regard to epoxy grout and wall tiles, unless we are talkiing about a commercial kitchen or a surgical suite I would not grout in epoxy unless a skilled professional is doing the job. Epoxy grouts do not work well vertically and if you are a DIY person leave this one to the professionals.

The modern cement based grouts are good products that are relatively easy to use. If you want the extra protection that an epoxy grout can give you, hire a pro.

My last blog touched on leveraging our higher Canadian dollar to upgrade manufacturing equipment. Late last year we purchased a new high tech stone saw. This year we will be purchasing another CNC Stone Millling Table. This new piece of equipment, in conjunction with our newest saw should push our production capabilities up by a factor of 40%.

This is good news.

When the new milling table arrives we will be able to reduce our order turn-around time drastically and as I mentioned earlier increase production capacity. These are good things for both our customers and our company. The other plus in this purchase will be the fact that we will have to upgrade the training of our production staff. This will not only help improve product quality it will result in the opening up of another place on the floor for a new employee. When we expand we need more people and more people working helps us all.

While the higher Canadian doller may not be a direct benefit to Canadian manufacturers who are exporting it is a benefit if these manufaturers want to update their equipment. It is also a benefit to buidlers in Canada. Our purchasing power is up and this is helping keep most material prices down. So there is an upside to the Canadian dollar for people for are renovating or building. Most of our material purchases are in US currency so for at least the near future I can’t see material costs going up.