I only ever used BAL products &, although rather expensive, they are the best available IMO. As I said previously, gypsum plaster & cement render are alkaline so standard plasterboard tape must be alkali resistant anyway, why use far more expensive “tiling application tapes” when the products involved are mostly cement based! Using standard, inexpensive fibre glass board tape has never caused me any problems!
White grout still looks far better on any wall tile installation in my opinion as long as you look after it; not so with floor tiles but that’s another story! Quality, bacteria resistant grout products are impervious as long as the surface remains undamaged so, under normal household use, it will never really get “dirty” as such. What happens is hard water lime scale will quite quickly build up on the grout surface & it’s this lime scale covering that starts to discolour & will even allow black mould to fester. A water softener makes one hell of a difference as it prevents build up of lime scale but a monthly spray clean with a quality (industrial if you can get it) lime scale remover will keep it all looking good.
