Steven met with Mark Rehberg at Ranserve to begin reviewing the garage plans and budget. The numbers need work. And details are missing on how the numbers were compiled. There’s more homework to do before Steven and Jacquela can make the go/no go decision.

Steven picked up grout samples from ProSource — and got a grout lesson from John. There’s sanded and unsanded, conventional grouts that have to be mixed with water, applied, then sealed. Minerals and chemicals in the water can change the color of the grout. The mixing and multiple steps are labor intensive. And you have to seal, again, every three years. Use unsanded in narrow joints. Use sanded in wider joints. The unsanded is like pudding. The sand in the grout makes it thicker, for the wider joints.

For tile exposed to acids and chemicals in a kitchen, and to water in showers, for example, there are epoxy grouts. The epoxy makes the impervious to stains — that’s what the industry claims. Epoxy grouts cost 2-4 times as much as cement grouts.

And, there are urethane grouts. Pre-mixed, self-sealing, stain-free. And several times more expensive.

We’re going to have to compute the math.

Jacquela and Ron arrived at Emerald Hill late in the day. Jacquela selected the grout colors she wants for the kitchen, bath 2 and bath 3, the utility/laundry room, the porch and entry and fireplace hearth, and the floor in the master bath.

That took all of 30 minutes. Maybe. Easy compared to picking paint colors.

Jacquela and Steven need to see the wall tile in the master shower by daylight to pick that grout color.