Rubi Joint Applicator For Grout and Mortar

22-year tile setter: One of the best inventions ever for grout, epoxy, or silicone applications. The 65990 is a high-quality tool that works well and is the easiest to clean!! It's a well-planned, and designed applicator that will reduce labor and will last through many jobs.

For my application of grout to travertine tile this tool works great. I did not want grout in all the pockets of the tile, and this tool allowed me to control the grout into the 1/8 inch joints very well, and not have grout anywhere but the grout joint. It's not a fast process, so I could not mix up much grout at a time or it would start hardening on me before I had used it all up. That means more short cycles of application, clean, next application.

I bought the Rubi applicator to apply grout between 18" ceramic floor tile. The applicator works very well but I soon realized that I wasn't saving any time or doing a better job than just using a grout float. I am not taking anything away from the applicator. It works great. It is easy to load and once you get the hang of the timing of squeezing the trigger and the speed at which to move that applicator tip, it performs very well. If I were putting new mortar between bricks or stones I can see where the applicator would make life WAY easier for an amateur like myself. After using 3 full tubes of grout, I switched back to using a float to apply the grout for my tile job. Bottom line: Contractor's Direct shipped the applicator immediately. I received it in 2 days in perfect condition. The directions that come with it are not very thorough but if you apply some logic you can figure out how it works pretty easily. It is well made, light, and easy to use. I would recommend it per what I wrote above. If I use it to point up some mortar between bricks or stones, I'll update this review. The only reason I gave it a 4 and not a 5 star rating is because, for me, it was not a time or work saver...nor was I able to apply the grout any better (as I mentioned above).

I used this to grout between tiles that were very porous because they would be very hard to clean if I used a grout float. It worked amazingly with grout! Very accurate, little mess and easy to use. Then I tried it with spec mix cement and initially it wouldn't go through the gun. Then I cut the tip a bit bigger and thinned the cement mix and it worked great. I will not grout without this tool again.

This works so much better than a grout bag....it puts mortar exactly where you want it and does so by simply squeezing on the handles. So much more economical that twisting on the end of the grout bag. Comes apart without tools to through clean out. With some mortar mixes it can leave a plug in the tube that has to be cleaned out but that is so minor compared to the advantages that this offer.