Asian Paints SmartCare SmartCare Tile Grout Power Additive
The liquid that turns basic cement tile grout into a tougher, glossier, water-shedding joint — without upgrading to epoxy.
What is it?
A single-component, polymer-modified whitish liquid (product code 6896) gauged into SmartCare Cement-Based Tile Grout powder in place of plain water, upgrading ordinary CTG into a stronger, more flexible, water-resistant joint.
Where is it used?
Interior and exterior floor and wall tile joints — ceramic, porcelain and vitrified tile, natural stone, granite and marble — in bathrooms, kitchens, balconies, terraces and lobbies wherever cement-based grout is used.
Why use it?
Plain CTG is porous and prone to shrinkage cracks, staining and water ingress at the joint. The additive’s polymer film closes capillary pores and adds flexibility, letting grout fill joints up to 12 mm without cracking.
How is it applied?
Mix 200 ml additive into approximately 100 ml water, then add CTG powder to a lump-free paste (1 kg CTG : 200 ml additive : 100 ml water) and float into clean joints within the 60-minute pot life. Undiluted, it also works as a 1-2 coat topcoat on existing cured grout.
About Asian Paints SmartCare SmartCare Tile Grout Power Additive
Cement-based tile grout (CTG) is still the default across Indian tiling jobs — cheap, easy to source, forgiving to apply. Its weak point shows up later: hairline shrinkage cracks along the joint, staining in bathrooms and kitchens, and water tracking into balcony and terrace joints through the monsoon. The usual fix is to either live with it or push the client to a pricier epoxy grout system. SmartCare Tile Grout Power Additive sits in between — it doesn’t replace the CTG, it modifies it. Swap plain gauging water for this polymer liquid at the fixed ratio, and the same bag of grout cures denser, more flexible, and noticeably less water-thirsty.
For a distributor and applicator network like Space Arc, it’s a practical add-on rather than a hard sell — a small-ticket product with a visibly different finish (gloss, fewer early cracks) that a tiling contractor adds to a grout order they were placing anyway. We stock it alongside SmartCare’s Cement Based and Epoxy Based Tile Grout ranges and the SmartCare Tile Adhesive family, so a job can be specified end to end from one supplier across Delhi NCR and our pan-India dispatch. It’s also one of the few grout products in the market rated for a genuinely wide 12 mm joint, useful on rustic and natural stone flooring where narrow-joint grout simply isn’t rated to use.
The technical insight
The chemistry is straightforward polymer modification — the same principle behind polymer-modified repair mortars, scaled down for a tile joint. The Power Additive is a latex-type polymer dispersed in water. As the cement hydrates and the mix dries, the polymer coalesces into a continuous film running through the cement matrix, bridging the micro-gaps left as free water evaporates. That does two things: it gives the joint flexibility that cement hydration products alone don’t have — which is why the datasheet rates it for joints up to 12 mm, wider than an unmodified CTG can span without cracking as tile and joint move fractionally with temperature and moisture; and it partially blocks the grout’s capillary pore network, which is what drives the water-resistance improvement — water beads and sheds instead of wicking straight in.
The less obvious use buried in the datasheet is as a stand-alone topcoat: one or two undiluted coats brushed over already-cured grout. It’s the same liquid at full strength rather than diluted into fresh CTG — effectively a thin polymer film painted directly onto the joint surface. It’s a legitimate way to refresh dull, ageing grout lines without regrouting, though it’s a surface treatment rather than a structural fix — it won’t do much for a joint that’s already cracked or hollow underneath.
Where it is used
- Bathroom and kitchen tiling, where grout needs to resist constant moisture, staining and mould-friendly porosity.
- Wide-joint natural stone, granite and marble flooring, beyond what standard CTG is rated for.
- Balconies, terraces and other monsoon-exposed exterior tiling, mixed in or overcoated for water resistance.
- Rustic and exposed-aggregate vitrified tile work laid with deliberately wide, up-to-12 mm joints.
- High-footfall commercial floors — showrooms, lobbies, corridors — needing a tougher grout bond than plain CTG.
- Refurbishment: undiluted topcoat brushed over old, dull grout lines to restore gloss without regrouting.
- Pool-surround and other splash-zone tiled decks where standard CTG stains and discolours quickly.
- Residential retiling where the contractor wants a visibly glossier, crack-resistant joint without moving to epoxy.
Key advantages
- Single liquid, single mixing step — no multi-part kits or resin ratios to get wrong on site.
- Upgrades inexpensive cement-based grout instead of forcing a jump to costlier, fussier epoxy grout.
- Rated for joints up to 12 mm, wider than most standard cement tile grout applications.
- Cuts the hairline shrinkage cracking that’s the most common CTG complaint on Indian sites.
- Visibly improves gloss and finish — an easy way for a contractor to show a client added value.
- Dual-purpose: a mix-in additive on fresh grout, or an undiluted protective topcoat on grout that’s already cured.
- Backed by Asian Paints’ distribution — consistent stock, familiar packaging, and a nationwide dealer network.
- Simple 60-minute pot life and float-and-clean application that any tiling crew already knows.
Limitations & considerations
- Tested and warranted specifically with SmartCare Cement Based Tile Grout, not other brands’ CTG powder.
- An additive for cement grout, not an epoxy substitute — won’t match epoxy’s chemical and stain resistance in tough environments.
- 60-minute pot life means batches must be sized to what the crew can actually float and finish before it goes off.
- The public datasheet doesn’t quote IS/ASTM standard compliance or a specific gravity figure, so it can’t be cited as certified data on tenders that require it.
- The gloss topcoat changes the joint’s visual finish, which can read differently against some natural stone tones — worth trialling on a small patch first.
- Needs a full 24-hour cure before the grout takes water or foot traffic, so it doesn’t suit fast-track handover schedules without allowing for it.
Selection & best practice
Always mix the Power Additive into water first, then add SmartCare CTG powder gradually while stirring — reversing that order is the most common cause of a lumpy, hard-to-float paste on site. Clean the joints of dust, tile-adhesive smears and loose debris before grouting; the additive improves bond, but it can’t compensate for a dirty joint. Batch only what the crew can float within the 60-minute pot life — on a hot site that window shrinks, so smaller, more frequent batches beat one large mix. Let the grout cure the full 24 hours, shielded from rain and foot traffic, before it takes water. If it’s being used purely as a topcoat on existing grout, apply one thin coat, let it dry, and judge whether a second is needed rather than laying it on thick in one pass.
Specifications
| Product Code | 6896 |
| Appearance | Whitish liquid |
| Chemistry | Single-component polymer-modified liquid additive |
| Mixing ratio | 1 kg SmartCare CTG powder : 200 ml Power Additive : 100 ml water |
| Pot life | 60 minutes |
| Drying/cure time | 24 hours |
| Maximum joint width | Up to 12 mm |
| Shelf life | 18 months from manufacture (sealed, cool, dry storage) |
| Pack sizes | 200 ml, 1 litre |
Industry use cases
Residential retiling (Delhi NCR)
Bathroom and kitchen jobs where the additive is mixed into SmartCare CTG to cut the staining and hairline cracking that plain-grout work often shows within a year.
Hospitality
Lobby and spa flooring on wide-joint natural stone or marble, using the 12 mm joint rating and gloss finish for a more premium look than standard narrow-joint tiling.
Commercial / retail
Showroom and corridor vitrified tile flooring under constant footfall, where the added bond and compressive strength reduce wear at joint edges.
Renovation and maintenance
Facility teams refreshing dull, aged cement grout lines with an undiluted topcoat instead of the cost and downtime of full regrouting.
Exteriors and terraces
Balcony and terrace tiling exposed to monsoon rain, where the mixed-in and overcoated additive together improve water shedding at the joint.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix this into any tile grout, or does it have to be SmartCare’s?
Is this the same as epoxy tile grout?
How much do I need for a bathroom or floor job?
Can it just be used to freshen up grout that’s already there?
What’s the widest joint this is actually rated for?
Is it suitable for a swimming pool or a joint that stays wet all the time?
How we position Asian Paints SmartCare SmartCare Tile Grout Power Additive
Within the SmartCare range this additive is the companion to SmartCare Tile Grout – Cement Based; it’s meant to be bought alongside that grout, not on its own. For jobs that need more than an additive can give — heavy chemical exposure, continuous immersion, or a tender that specifies epoxy grout outright — SmartCare’s own Epoxy Based and Epoxy Based 3K Tile Grout sit one tier up, pairing with the SmartCare Tile Adhesive and Ezy White Tile Adhesive ranges for a full same-brand tiling system. Indian tile grout is a crowded, brand-loyal category — MYK Laticrete, Roff, Bal Endura and Weber all compete here — so most contractors default to whatever their regular grout supplier stocks. Fosroc, worth naming because specifiers sometimes ask, isn’t really a player in this decorative tile-grout-additive space; its construction chemicals range is built around structural and industrial applications — repair mortars, waterproofing membranes, structural grouts and protective coatings — rather than tile adhesive and grout systems, so it isn’t a genuine like-for-like alternative to reach for here.
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