Wondering which coloured grout to use on a paving project? Read our guide to the five non-fade Fuga Pave grout colours and find out how to decide between a cool or warm shade for either a complementary or contrasting visual effect.
Design advice on choosing grout colours
Before we take a look at the Fuga Pave grout colours in detail, there are a few essential questions about the overall look and feel you want to achieve from your tiling or paving project.
Do your pavers contain warm or cool shades?
First things first, you need to determine the colour family of your pavers.
Once you decide which family the paving materials sit in you’ll have a little extra help in deciding on the best colour for the grout.
Consider whether the colour of the pavers or tiles is warm or cool.
Fuga Pave grout is available in both warm and cool tones. Read on to find out which is which.
Do you want to complement or contrast?
When it comes to design, there is no hard and fast rule. It ultimately comes down to personal choice. One landscaper’s preference can be very different to another’s – and both of those opinions can be vastly opposing to a client’s!
The question to ask yourself is whether you want the grout to blend-in and complement the pavers, or whether you want the mortar to stand-out and highlight the joints.
Colour-matching tiles and grout will offer a blended, seamless look. Whereas a bold contrast can give the flooring a visual lift – and some extra oomph – so the tiles don’t look too ‘samey’.
Can you match the grout to furniture or brickwork?
If you’re still stuck on which grout colour to choose, assess the nearby environment to see whether you can choose a colour that complements nearby furniture, brickwork or other features like plant pots.
On the other hand, make a bold statement by picking a grout colour that offers a stark contrast to these nearby features.
What are your maintenance preferences?
A final consideration is cleaning. By their very nature, lighter grouts are likely to show dirt much faster than darker shades.
Now we don’t want to put you off using a light-coloured grout. They do look fantastic on many shades of flooring, and especially when they contrast with darker tiles such as slate.
But you may want to consider how much cleaning and maintenance you or the client wishes to carry out in future.
Fortunately, Fuga Pave grout is antibacterial, reducing the likelihood of absorbing too much dirt and grime. Read on to find out more about the formula’s properties.
Benefits of Fuga Pave colours
Fuga Pave grout, or Flex CH as it’s also known, is one of the easiest grouts to mix, apply and clean off. Also, with zero efflorescence, it’s no wonder many busy contractors are switching over to use this reliable and non-permeable grout.
We’ll go into looking at the different Fuga Pave grout colours available in a moment. First let’s review the aesthetic benefits of choosing Fuga Pave grout over another brand.
Non-fade and UV resistant colours
Each Fuga Pave grout colour is non-fade and UV resistant. That means that when you choose a dark Anthracite grout, it will still be dark Anthracite in years to come.
By building in UV resistance to Fuga Pave’s cementitious formula, you have the extra reassurance the grout will not be affected by the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays, or the UV rays from some artificial lighting.
Antibacterial grout for easy cleaning
As a long lasting and naturally antibacterial grout, pavers and tiles pointed with Fuga Pave are much easier to clean and maintain.
The Fuga Pave formula has been created specially to include antibacterial properties that ensure the grout’s aesthetics are as durable as the grout’s overall strength.
Use on indoor and outdoor tiles and pavers
Another aesthetic benefit of using Fuga Pave grout is that it can easily be applied to both indoor and outdoor flooring projects.
This flexibility allows you to create a seamless look between your inside tiles and outside pavers by using exactly the same coloured grout for the entire project.
Fuga Pave grout essentially involves no mess. Apply the grout and clean off with a sponge or pedalo washboy. You don’t need too much water, which means it can be easily applied to indoor flooring and tiles.
Read the full Fuga Pave grout instructions for more details.
What are the Fuga Pave grout colours?
As with many great paving brands, Fuga Pave grout comes in five colours letting you choose a shade that either complements or contrasts the tiles or pavers.
See the image below for a colour guide to Fuga Pave grout.
Each of these colours can be used for pointing joint widths of between 2mm and 20mm wide.
Although designed with porcelain and natural stone materials in mind, Fuga Pave grout can be used for any type of paving and tiles, including cementitious pavers, and for both indoor and outdoor installations.
Let’s look at each of the grout colours in detail and see which tiles and pavers they may work best with.
Light Grey
The lightest shade of the grey coloured grouts is Fuga Pave Light Grey.
Light Grey offers a sleek look to many colours and shades of pavers and tiles. This particular shade looks top-notch with grey Indian sandstone, natural limestone and grey porcelain.
As a cool-toned grout colour, Light Grey can lift the whole look and feel of dark pavers by adding a splash of brightness. Consider how well this colour would contrast against slate, black quartz or black Limestone.
Mid-Grey
If you’re still looking for a coolish tone to the patio or indoor flooring, Fuga Pave Mid-Grey is a great middle of the road option.
Although darker than Light Grey, Mid-Grey is not as strong or as bold as the next cool shade along – Anthracite.
Mid-Grey can be used to tone-down dazzling, light coloured pavers. Use with lighter slabs such as ivory Indian sandstone, pale granite or limestone for a striking contrast.
Anthracite
Anthracite is one of the most popular of the Fuga Pave colours.
As the darkest grout colour available, Anthracite offers a stylish dark hue that looks fantastic as a contrasting colour against light coloured pavers such as pale ivory limestone, sandstone or pale porcelain.
When opting for a blended look, Anthracite will look seamless against black Indian limestone, black granite pavers and dark slate.
Unlike most dark grey grouts that can quickly fade to a chalky grey, Fuga Pave Anthracite will maintain its intended shade so your tiles continue to dazzle for years to come.
Limestone
We’re now moving over to the warm shades of grout.
If you’ve chosen warmer tones for your paving materials or tiles, then a warm-toned grout will be the perfect choice.
Fuga Pave Limestone offers a warmer contrasting colour when compared with Light Grey or Mid-Grey. It will blend nicely with beige, buff or rainbow sandstone.
Jasmin
Another warm-toned grout colour is Fuga Pave Jasmin.
Arguably the lightest and warmest of the grout colours available, Jasmin perfectly complements sandstone and Yorkstone pavers.
Jasmin packs a punch as a contrasting colour. Consider using it for a beautiful and striking finish to Raj green sandstone containing subtle greens, greys and browns. It also works a treat with multicoloured cobbles.
Essential advice for a professional finish
As with all grouts that are available in different colours, slight colour variations – or discoloration – can occur by not following the application instructions or keeping an eye on water quantities while mixing.
Follow these essential tips to ensure you achieve a seamless look to the grout, right the way through your project.
#1 Ensure the bed has fully cured
Before applying Fuga Pave Flex CH, always ensure the mortar bed has fully cured or ‘gone off’. The bed must be completely dry so no water passes up and onto the slabs.
We recommend using a sealant, especially when using porous paving slabs or textured tiles.
Seal-It Universal Water Based Sealer can be applied to the slabs 7–14 days before pointing. Quality sealers, such as Seal-It, are time-saving in the long-run as they will completely slash the time spent on ongoing cleaning and maintenance.
Please note: if you have laid non-porous stone such as unsealed porcelain, you must apply the sealant after grouting instead.
#2 Always assess consistency while mixing
Each Fuga Pave grout colour is made using a slightly different formula of cementitious powder to achieve that particular shade.
With a slightly different formula, it’s important to constantly assess the consistency of the mixture during the mixing, rather than adding all of the recommended water.
As a general guide, a 20kg bag of Fuga Pave requires 4.5 litres of water overall. The smaller 5kg bucket of grout requires 1.125 litres of water in total.
Three quarters of this water is added to a clean bucket before emptying in the full bag of grout formula before mixing.
The remaining water is then added gradually to achieve a smooth, cake-batter-type mixture.
Always add the water gradually, mixing each time. Keep an eye on the consistency to ensure you don’t add too much.
See the complete guide to applying Fuga Pave grout for more mixing instructions or see our frequently asked questions for further info.
#3 Add the same ratio of water to each mix
One 20kg bag of Fuga Pave grout will cover an area of approximately 15–20 square metres (depending on slab sizes and the joint widths and depths).
If you’re completing an extra-large patio or a commercial project, you’ll certainly require more than one bag.
You must ensure that you add exactly the same amount of water to each mix. Otherwise there may be a slight colour variation in the grout.
When mixing the first formula, make a note of how much additional water you add to achieve the required smooth consistency. Then, add the exact same amount of water to every other mixture.
Always mix one bag at a time so the grout remains easy to combine and apply.
#4 Avoid over watering during clean up
Another way of avoiding discoloration – apart from getting the water:formula ratio right – is avoiding over watering the surfaces during clean up.
While a simple sponge can be used to clean off excess grout, the pedalo washboy makes this job much easier and allows you to avoid adding too much water.
Using the pedalo, you can quickly squeeze out excess water from the long-handled sponge float before cleaning the surfaces.
Avoid applying any pressure at all to the sponge float. The sponge is perfectly designed to remove unwanted grout from the surfaces without inadvertently scooping it out of the joints.
We strongly advise applying ‘zero pressure’ – and it means you don’t even break a sweat during the job!
#5 Expert tips on cleaning paving grout
Fuga Pave grout consists of a formula that is naturally antibacterial. And as such, it repels dirt and grime to help maintain its colour shade.
Regular cleaning is therefore not a necessity when you choose Fuga Pave. But when you or your client do decide to clean the pavers or tiles, there’s no harm in paying a little attention to the grout too.
If you do clean the grout, ensure you don’t point a hosepipe nozzle or any pressurised water into the joints themselves. The safest way to clean is to scrub with a stiff bristle brush and soapy water.
Do you prefer complementary of contrasting grouts?
That’s our complete guide to Fuga Pave grout colours.
We’d love to hear whether you prefer to choose complementary or contrasting grout colours on paving and tiling projects? What are your sure-fire ways of picking a coloured grout that works well for the aesthetics of the flooring? Share your comments in the feedback field below.
Here at the Paving Experts we offer some of the best prices online for Fuga Pave products from the ABC paving system, and many other popular paving products including landscaping equipment.
Huge discounts are available when you buy grouts and mortars in bulk. Get in touch if you’d like to get a quote or to make any further enquiries.
You may also be interested in reading the complete guide to Flowpoint grades and colours.
Important note on grout colours
Please be aware that due to printing processes and on-screen colour profiles, the grout colours shown in this article may not be 100% accurate. Please refer to the sample card for accurate colours. Contact us for further advice.
