How to mix small batches of grout?

[Mr. Duality]

A while back, Mrs. Duality accepted the low bid for tiling some floor and stairs. The grout is seriously deteriorating in spots. We have two 50-pound bags of grout leftover from the original installation. Directions on the bags say to slowly mix 6 quarts of water with 50 pounds of grout. I only want to mix 2 pounds at a time. The math tells me to to use 7.68 ounces of water for two pounds of grout.

Could some experienced Doper describe for me the proper texture of mixed grout, so I can be assured that I'm doing the job right?

Thanks in advance.

[Philster]

Thick, gooey oatmeal. Add water slowly until it gets like heavy oatmeal. Don't be concerned with measurements.

(if the grout is coming out, you ar just patching a problem and delaying the inevitable: scrathing out old grout and putting in new grout = right thing).

Grout fails when people add water and make it soupy....or even creamy when spreading it. You need it thick...almost to the point where you wish you could add some water to make it spread easier...but don't!

Think of thick peanut butter...seems a little too thick to spread, but it would be right at that consistency.

[Mr. Duality]

Originally Posted by Philster

Thick, gooey oatmeal. Add water slowly until it gets like heavy oatmeal. Don't be concerned with measurements.

(if the grout is coming out, you ar just patching a problem and delaying the inevitable: scrathing out old grout and putting in new grout = right thing).

Grout fails when people add water and make it soupy....or even creamy when spreading it. You need it thick...almost to the point where you wish you could add some water to make it spread easier...but don't!

Think of thick peanut butter...seems a little too thick to spread, but it would be right at that consistency.

All right! I feel confident now. Thanks, Philster!

[danceswithcats]

One point of disagreement Philster. The amount of water is critical in terms of strength, and also when doing a grout job with multiple batches, differences in water/powder ratio may result in a noticeable color shift.

[Philster]

The grout is coming out, and they are doing a patch job. They cannot match the grout in there even with the same batch, because a large batch was mixed for the intitial job, and smaller patch jobs don't match, unless by pure chance.

Water is critical, of course. You need enough only to blend the grout and get it as thick as heavy peanut butter. Measurements are only a guideline -- Always have been. When mixing large batches, measurements do serve as a starting point.

When mixing small batches, if you follow my advice, you're fine.