Guest Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I was curious how important grout sealing is. I'm the world's laziest person, and I'd probably seal the grout the first time, but then put it off forever, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejp Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Do you have a tiled shower? How often did you seal the grout there? Grout sealing is for stain prevention (less of an issue with darker grout) and for additional protection against moisture. I do find that with a good tile job moisture intrusion is less of an issue in wet areas like a shower. If one intends to leave the cooker out uncovered as most folks do, in the driving rain/snow/sleet through temperature extremes, it's probably not a bad idea to give the tile additional protection against the elements. A few minutes with a foam roller 1x/year should do. That said, I've never sealed my Kamado #7 in 3 years and the only grout /tile defects were factory original Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Considered the "Volcanic" I have a textured #7, and I prefer the appearance. Dennis sent me a pic of one, very cool. what I really like about it is how seamless it appears. no bands on the outside interfering with the contours, no prop tube just hanging on the sides. for me, iIjust prefer the elemental look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 I 2 recommend using a grout sealer once a year... As I said in my FAQ under tile loss, I firmly believe that the secret is to maintain the integrity of the grout seal.. Especially in areas that drop below freezing. Grout can be used outside but the UV, hot, cold wind, sleet and snow will eventually cause deterioration. Remember they break down stone. With this in mind, I also recommend using a grout sealer once a year and watching for failures in the grout i.e.. cracks. An ounce of prevention... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songdog Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 It's funny but years ago, before Dick went to Indonesia or Mexico and I first got a K7, I posted about sealing the grout. I don't know if anyone remembers a unique guy by the name of Jason, but he thought that I had went around with a model airplane brush individually sealing each grout line. Dick put the idea down as he didn't want customers asking for them to seal the grout. In the final analysis though the factory in Sacramento was in the fog belt in the winter months so that his secret soup, the glue holding the tile on, nor the grout was never properly cured before the customer got them. Thus the idea of making the customer do long slow cook curing before bringing the temp up high or the tiles would start popping off. In that case I think one needed to get everything cured good before sealing the grout, so as not to seal moisture in an exacerbate the problem. -- Songdog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerard Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Re: It's funny ...I don't know if anyone remembers a unique guy by the name of Jason... -- Songdog I remember Jason. His misunderstanding of your proposed grout sealing technique isn't what made him unique. Along the same vein.... remember the aging British rocker (whose alleged name totally escapes me)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Tile Loss / Problems This is my post from "Tile Loss / Problems" in the FAQ section.. This is something I've worked very hard to understand. The first thing I discovered is that "his' (RJ) now my workers were not wetting or brushing mortar on the back of the tiles. They were just pressing the dry tile into the mortar on the grill.. This would result in only about 40-60% for the tiles surface to be secured by grout and this also left a void that could cause problems with water later. The second problem is that his grill is as you know a mix of Portland cement and volcanic cinder, a kind of ground pumice(at least when he built them here). This dense material has problems with trapped moisture expanding and turning to steam/gas then in turn breaking/cracking the grout and sometimes even the body. As you know everyone reports small steam jets erupting through their grout and bubbling etc. The BIG problem here is this causes breaks in the grout and mortar. These breaks are now holes that later permit rain to get in under the tiles causing them to fall off especially in extremely cold/ freezing conditions. On the other hand my grill has a dense inner layer which I add special micro fibers into. When heated they incinerate leaving thousands of micro holes which enable the steam to vent before it can build pressure and do damage. The lightweight outside layer is very porous and is very easy to dry.. My grills are pre dried in the factory using a vacuum kiln that I use for my furniture production. Basically the grills are put into a chamber, heated then under vacuum the water turns to vapor and leaves the material.. we can pull about 4 liters out of each half! This of course protects the mortar and grout on the outside.. Therefore my grill is not plagued with the initial firing schedule problems of the "Old School K" First time you use your grill, fire it to 750?f and sear to your hearts content. I firmly believe that the secret is to maintain the integrity of the grout seal.. theirs of course is compromised in the first few firings.. I also recommend using a grout sealer once a year and watching for failures in the grout i.e.. cracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerard Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 What, no chicken wire??? Not that there's anything wrong with that. Actually I'm just curious. I never understood the big hullabaloo over the chicken wire discovery in the other brand's units, except that at that time the Kompany was still aggressively defending its use of the term "ceramic" and no one had ever seen chicken wire or any other metal support in anything else ceramic. The use of "refractory material" came about much later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerard Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Hey Dennis, about that chicken wire question.... Well now I'm more than curious since I didn't get an answer. Is chicken wire part of the komodo's construction? I understand all about the necessity of rebar in concrete so I'm not opposed. And, if so, are we going to see it as a reticular pattern on the inside of the komodo the way it slowly appeared in my kamado? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Yep.. both layers... Sorry Gerard, I had not selected notify me when a reply is posted... Thank you for your involvement on the forum. Yes, chicken wire was something that was passed on to Komodos from the original construction. My workers had always built them that way and common sense dictates it could be helpful... The big difference is that I have two layers.. I'm out to build the best and so I put a chicken wire basket into both layers.. Twice the strength? I too have seen it in the old Kamados but I don't remember seeing it in Komodos.. I'll have to do come checking/looking.. Maybe it's only visible thru portland DennisLink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejp Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Re: Yep.. both layers... Sorry Gerard, I had not selected notify me when a reply is posted... Thank you for your involvement on the forum. Yes, chicken wire was something that was passed on to Komodos from the original construction. My workers had always built them that way and common sense dictates it could be helpful... The big difference is that I have two layers.. I'm out to build the best and so I put a chicken wire basket into both layers.. Twice the strength? I too have seen it in the old Kamados but I don't remember seeing it in Komodos.. I'll have to do come checking/looking.. Maybe it's only visible thru portland Fiber reinforced concrete is more popular these days (greatly increases shear strength and resistance to cracking). One simply adds this material to the concrete mixture. Perhaps you could work with Harbison Walker to get it to work in a KK as well? Not that I'm against chicken wire but but when you're building the ultimate cooker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songdog Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm connfuzed but it sounds like DennisLink, Leejp, and kkforum are all the same person with multiple handles. Can someone please clarify before I start thinking that I'm back at the house that Richard built? -- SongDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Your 2/3rds correct... When I started the forum.. my first adventure into a forum I might add.. I filled out the blanks and set up the administrator as KKforum... Then for myself DennisLink as I wanted there to be no confusion who I/the owner was... The plan was when entering information such as links etc I would use the KKForum and when somebody asked about the product it would be DennisLink i.e. the owner answering... Great in theory but... in this case it looks like I was caught typing before I had my coffee... As you can see.. I'm answering as Dennis not a ghost person.. This is not a case of me moonlighting as my Gemini twin.. Just a simple mistake.. I probably need to go and figure out how to make DennisLink the administrator and put KKforum to rest... Thanks for the heads up.. gotta keep this place the antithesis of the house that Richard built FYI leejp has his profile up on the new "Komodo User Profiles" BTW Thank you for your involvement on the forum, great to have you here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I am the PORKCHOP Guess I'd better dial back my enthusiasm some. I'd hate to be mistaken for Dennis!!! I am the eggman I am the eggman I am the PORKCHOP koo koo keechew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
