LESLIE: Mark in Florida, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you?
MARK: I’m in Pensacola. I’m a fairly new homeowner and I have an in-ground swimming pool in my backyard and I got the stereotypical concrete decking around it but I’d like to liven it up a little bit and put down some porcelain tile. Do I have to worry about any type of additive to grout or thinset in order to be resilient enough to take on the battles of chlorine?
TOM: Oh, no. I mean chlorine is corrosive but, you know, sand grout or epoxy grout are both designed to stand up to chlorine. I mean chlorine is in all the water – not only the pool water but it’s in the water that we drink and …
LESLIE: In your drinking water.
TOM: … you know, it stands up to it on shower walls and bath walls and things like that. So you don’t have to worry so much about the chlorine.
LESLIE: You do have to make sure – especially with ceramic tile, you’re saying you want to put outside by the pool – you want to make sure you choose something that’s specifically rated for floors and that can maintain stability during, you know, very wet situations, which is what you’re going to have in Florida and around the pool. You want to make sure that people are staying on their feet and not slipping and sliding so you need to make sure that that slip-resistancy rating is appropriate for that.
MARK: Oh, absolutely and it’s probably going to be a porcelain tile because of the freeze rating. But I was worried about the chlorine not just splashing on it but maybe pooling or puddling on it and sitting for a long time; if it could seep into the grout or anything like that and then cause it to lift up later.
TOM: No, I mean not really any more than any other moisture that could get on there. So I wouldn’t worry about the chlorine. I think that’ll be fine with any grout you choose.
MARK: That’s the answer to my question, then. Not a problem.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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