EasyJoint for Porcelain: Why avoid brush-in grouts?

You may find that brush-in jointing compounds like EasyJoint or Pavetuf look very simple and easy to use for paving joints.

Many DIYers prefer them for the ease of application and yes they’re really easy to use for someone who laying the slabs for the very first time as you see in the videos.

However, most professional paving installers refuse to use these pre-mixed, brush-in jointing compounds for grouting purposes (for porcelain at least) as they themselves use and suggest using a proper external grout like Fugabella, Fugapave, and Flowpoint.

While there’s a reason to avoid using such products, they think that brush-in grouts are mostly DIY-centric products and won’t last as long as proper external grouting solutions.

Of course, brush-ins are made for a reason. To simplify the grouting process

Whenever someone uses brush-in grout on their patio and if it fails, the most common reason that you may see people say that would have caused this is as below.

EasyJoint or other brush-in jointing compounds should be avoided on porcelain or any other paving with a non-permeable mortar bed because brush-in compounds like EasyJoint are porous and will let the water sit into the joints. This results in a change in the colour of the grout and breaks or pops it out over time as they have low strength.

(Mortar beds that are considered non-permeable consist 5:11 sharp sand-to-cement ratio or anything stronger than this. Anything weaker than a 5:11 ratio like 6:1 and after is considered a permeable mortar bed.)

So permeable grout (like EasyJoint) on a non-permeable bed is nothing but a combination more likely to cause problems. Even if you look at the specifications or technical data on the website of these brush-in products, you’ll find that they need a non-permeable mortar bed underneath (6:1 and after).

What you should know if you’re using 4:1 mix is that you’ve fewer options when grouting further down the road as the mortar bed it creates underneath is non-permeable. (Most DIYers don’t think of it until finally, it’s the time to grout). 6:1 mix and you’ve all the options available with grouting. This is why our DIYer Start-to-Finish Patio CheatSheet here can be very useful for DIYers because you know ahead of the job about such important things so that you can approach the job in a safer way.

However, some say that they never had a problem with brush-ins like EasyJoint. Some even won’t believe in this porous and non-porous thing may have caused the failure in the pointing.

So, can you use a brush-in compound on your porcelain paving? There is not a 100% guarantee that whether these brush-ins will last or not as there is kind of mixed opinions from the people who have actually used them on their own paving or on the jobs that they did for their customers.

To be on the safer side, it’s recommended to always use a proper external grout for your porcelain paving as it will always carry a better chance to last longer than a brush-in grout if done properly as instructed.

One of the grouts that I often see people recommending for porcelain is Ultrasapce Flowpoint. Fugabella is also a good one that comes with a wide range of colours to select from. These are the proper external grouts for porcelain pavings that professionals mostly use.

Also, one thing to remember along with grouting porcelain with a proper external grout is using pre-mixed primer on the back of the slabs as you won’t be using the SBR and cement slurry to prime the porcelain slabs. One of them is ProPrime primer for porcelain that meets the British standard requirement.