Where to Buy MAPEI Grout Colors and Tile Setting Materials Online

Short answer

MAPEI grout and tile installation supplies are sold through four routes: tile specialty retailers, big-box pro desks, plumbing and tile distributors, and national online building-materials catalogs. Which fits depends on your quantity and whether your color is a stocked one. Online catalogs are usually widest, because one order can carry grout, mortar, membrane, and trim together — Super Arbor lists 957 MAPEI products alongside 465 Laticrete items. Before buying, lock down three things: the exact grout line (Ultracolor Plus FA, Keracolor U, Keracolor S, Kerapoxy CQ), the exact color number within that line, and the full quantity for the whole job. Color numbers do not transfer cleanly between lines, and cement grout ships in production batches that can vary.

Why grout is the part of the order people get wrong

Tile gets weeks of deliberation. Grout gets ten minutes at the counter, after the tile is already on the truck. That is backwards: grout is visible on every square foot, sensitive to batch variation, and nearly impossible to correct after cure. You are also buying a compatible set, not a bag — mortar, grout, sealant, and in wet areas a membrane the mortar can bond to. Sourcing it from one place keeps compatibility answerable by one supplier.

The MAPEI grout lines, and what separates them

MAPEI's grout catalog is not one product in different colors. The lines differ in chemistry, cure speed, joint range, and sealing requirement.

• Ultracolor Plus FA — rapid-setting, polymer-modified, fine-aggregate grout. Formulated to be efflorescence-free, requires no sealing, and covers a wide joint range from hairline to roughly three-quarters of an inch. Fast set is a benefit on schedule and a liability if the crew mixes slowly.
• Keracolor U (unsanded, narrow joints) and Keracolor S (sanded, wider joints) — conventional Portland-cement grouts, lower cost per pound, generally recommended for sealing to resist staining. Confirm sealing guidance on the current data sheet.
• Kerapoxy CQ — 100% solids epoxy grout with colored quartz, for stain and chemical resistance: commercial kitchens, food prep, labs. Kerapoxy IEG sits above it for industrial chemical exposure.

Laticrete's parallel lineup — PERMACOLOR Select and PERMACOLOR Grout on the cement side, SPECTRALOCK PRO Premium on the epoxy side — solves the same problems differently. The Laticrete catalog is worth checking when a MAPEI color is discontinued, but treat a cross-brand swap as a re-selection, not a substitution.

How to read a color number — and why it does not travel

MAPEI identifies grout colors by a number paired with a name. The number is the orderable identifier; names repeat and get marketed differently across catalogs. The trap is that the number is scoped to the line: not every color exists in every chemistry, and even where the same number appears twice, the cured color can read differently because binder, aggregate, and texture differ. Epoxy has a different light response than cement, so "same color, just switched to epoxy" is a change order waiting to happen.

Sanded, unsanded, and the joint-width rule

The old rule still mostly holds: unsanded for narrow joints, sanded for wider ones, with the break generally around one-eighth of an inch. Sand gives grout body so it does not shrink and crack in a wide joint; in a narrow joint it will not pack in. The caution against sanded grout on polished marble and soft glazes is real, but fine-aggregate grouts span both sides of that break. Verify the joint range on the bag against your layout — the layout sets the joint, not the tile spec sheet.

The batch problem: order the whole job at once

Cement grout is a pigmented manufactured product, and pigment loading varies between production runs. Two bags of the same color number from different batches can cure to visibly different shades, most noticeably in large fields and raking light. The habits mirror tile lot discipline: calculate the full quantity first, buy the whole job in one purchase so bags come from one production window, mix full bags rather than partials, and if you must combine bags, dry-blend the powder before adding water.

How much grout the job actually needs

There is no universal coverage number, and any chart offering one is hiding variables. Consumption is four inputs multiplied together: tile length, tile width, tile thickness (which sets joint depth), and joint width. A 24×48 porcelain with a 1/16-inch joint uses a fraction of what a 2×2 mosaic with a 1/8-inch joint does over the same footage, because the mosaic has far more linear joint per square foot. Every MAPEI carton carries a coverage chart indexed to those variables — use it, add waste margin, round up to whole bags. Our cartons and waste guide covers the same logic on the tile side.

The rest of the basket people forget

Grout is maybe fifteen percent of a setting-materials order. The rest:

• Thinset mortar. Kerabond/Keralastic is the two-component approach — dry-set mortar plus latex additive mixed on site; Ultraflex is the single-component polymer-modified route. What matters is the ANSI classification on the bag: A118.4 is an improved modified dry-set mortar, A118.15 the higher-performance tier above it, generally what large-format tile wants. Laticrete 254 Platinum is the equivalent across the aisle. Browse mortar by classification, not by name recognition.
• Self-leveling underlayment. Almost always requires a primer from the same manufacturer, and the primer is the item people forget. Order them together.
• Waterproofing and crack isolation membranes. Liquid-applied (Mapelastic AquaDefense, Laticrete HYDRO BAN, Custom Building Products RedGard) or sheet (Schluter KERDI, Mapeguard). Look for ANSI A118.10 waterproofing, A118.12 crack isolation.
• Movement joints and trim profiles. Color-matched silicone at every change of plane, plus metal or PVC edge and transition profiles — Schluter Systems is the default here.

Comparing the four sourcing routes

The basis of comparison is a full tile-setting order — grout, mortar, membrane, and trim for one project — judged on color availability, quantity flexibility, and whether the basket can be sourced in one place.

Typical 2026 U.S. market ranges, for budgeting only: cement grout roughly $25–$55 per 25-pound bag; epoxy grout kits $95–$190; polymer-modified thinset $25–$50 per 50-pound bag; liquid waterproofing $60–$115 per gallon. Confirm at checkout or request a quote — category ranges, not any supplier's price.

Shelf life and storage — a real risk

Cement products have a finite shelf life, commonly one year unopened when stored dry, with the date printed on the bag. An old bag is not merely weaker; ambient humidity partially hydrates it, which shows up as lumps that will not disperse and reduced bond strength. Bags stored on a slab wick moisture from below. Check dates before the pallet leaves your sight, store off the ground, and use oldest stock first. Do not mix a bag with hard lumps.

For homeowners: one room's worth

Measure your tile field and count your joints, then use the coverage chart on the product page to convert that to bags. A standard bathroom floor typically takes one or two — buy the extra one, because a second trip means a second batch. Order a color chip where available and view it in the actual room under its own lighting at night. Confirm the color number on the packing slip before anyone opens a bag. If the project involves a shower, decide now whether you are hiring a licensed installer; waterproofing failures are the most expensive mistake in tile.

For contractors and property managers

Bag counts per pallet vary by product and package size, so ask for the per-pallet count on the specific SKU. Dry powders palletize well and ship as freight at volume; liquid membranes, additives, and sealants carry their own handling rules and sometimes ship separately — build both into the delivery window.

Quote tile and setting materials as one line-item list, so grout color, mortar classification, membrane, and profiles lock to the same submittal. Send the request with total square footage, tile format, joint width, substrate, and delivery address including whether the site has a dock — enough to price and route in one pass. A Super Arbor Pro account exists for this: quote support on bulk MAPEI and Laticrete quantities in one drop.

FAQ

Can I substitute a different MAPEI grout line in the same color number?

No, not without verifying against a physical chip first. Color numbers are scoped to the line, not every color exists in every chemistry, and the same number can render differently in cement versus epoxy.

Does Ultracolor Plus FA need to be sealed?

No. Ultracolor Plus FA is formulated so sealing is not required, a main reason it commands a premium over conventional cement grout. Keracolor U and Keracolor S generally do benefit from sealing.

How do I know whether to buy sanded or unsanded grout?

Measure your actual grout joint, not the tile size. Joints under roughly one-eighth of an inch generally take unsanded; wider joints take sanded, which resists shrinkage cracking.

Where can I buy MAPEI grout colors my local store does not stock?

National online catalogs carry the widest color coverage, because they are not limited by shelf space. A distributor can also special-order any catalogued color, usually with a longer lead time.

What else belongs on the order besides grout?

Mortar with the correct ANSI classification, waterproofing or crack isolation membrane where the assembly needs one, self-leveler and its primer if the substrate is out of tolerance, color-matched silicone for changes of plane, and edge profiles.

One next step

Put your grout color number and your mortar's ANSI classification on one list before you shop — those two lines determine everything else in the basket. For the specification side, our mortar and grout selection checklist covers what to choose before you decide where to buy.