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When the Catamaran Resort Hotel, on the scenic shores of Mission Bay in San Diego, underwent a recent renovation, they removed an aging cocktail lounge and replaced it with an upscale luxury spa.  Complementing the resort’s lush tropical decor, the 9,300-square-foot retreat features a custom porcelain mosaic floor mural with a sea life theme, brought to life with glass accents and a peaceful palette of greens, blues and purples.  The mural extends throughout the facility, creating a seamless flow between hallways, steam rooms, restrooms and treatment areas of the spa. 

California Tile Company of San Diego, tile contractor for the project, recognized that grout color consistency would be a major challenge for two reasons. First, the variety of tile meant different densities of materials. Second, the project involved several different substrates and both wet and dry areas.  Both factors could affect grout color consistency due to different curing times.  Alan Rea, vice president of California Tile, learned of Prism® SureColor® Grout at a seminar hosted by Custom® Building Products, and realized that Prism would be their solution.

Prism is a new premium, lightweight grout that delivers consistent color regardless of substrate, ambient conditions or type of tile.  An innovation in cement grout technology with Custom’s exclusive CustomLite® Technology, Prism resists shading, mottling, efflorescence and shrinking.  

“Prism represents the first significant advance in grout technology in years,” said Jeremy Gorr, product manager for Custom Building Products.  “Through extensive research and testing, our scientists have solved the problems typically associated with cement-based grout, such as shading, color variation and efflorescence.  The result is Prism’s color consistency, even under extreme conditions.”

Devin Dickey, a tile consultant with Custom Building Products, worked with the California Tile team and visited the site regularly during the course of the project to help ensure that Prism was meeting performance expectations.

“Prism grout handled beautifully and gave us the exceptional color consistency we needed across a variety of environments, tile material and substrates,” said Alan Rea, vice president of California Tile.  “We couldn’t be happier with the results and plan to use Prism again for future projects where performance is key.”