Regrouting

Tim - I had my tub/shower tile repaired and regrouted 2 years ago. There is now a one inch vertical line where the new grout has come off exposing the old (darker color) grout. Besides the esthetic appearance I am concerned that this will continue. How can I regrout this very small area?

Doris,
By following the advice in the above column. :->

Tim - Do you apply the grout and strike the joints 5-6 square feet at a time, or do you just apply 5-6 square feet at a time?

What's a good measure of square feet an hour? From start to finish, it took me about 1 hour to do 21 square feet. 10 minute mix, 10 minute application and 40 minutes of striking.

Mark,
It depends on the type of material being grouted and the size of the pieces. Way too many variables for me to quote you a number. But if it helps, I will tell you that for regular 4x4 wall tile, I can grout start to finish 60 square feet in an hour or less.

It is 4x4 tile, portland cement based, unsanded grout. For my first time grouting, 1/3 the speed doesn't sound too bad.

What about my question of applying and striking little bits at a time, or do you just apply little bits at a time and strike the whole thing at once?

Mark,
I work sections about 6 square feet at a time from start to finish. When the grout is mixed correctly and is stiff, you can't get too far ahead without getting into trouble.

I've got a tile kitchen counter with a porcelain sink, installed below the level of the tile. Two of the narrow, 1/4 round edge tiles are damaged, and the grout along a couple of the sides of the sink has crumbled out.

From reading your columns, it sounds like what I need to do is remove the grout from around the two damaged tiles, then remove the tiles, but I'm not sure how best to remove tiles in that area. And would it be worth removing all the grout between the sink and tile and replacing it with caulk? Most of the rest is still in reasonable shape.

JJ,
As crazy as this sounds, it might be better to repair the damaged tiles with epoxy and try painting them to match. If this fails, then you can go to plan B where you remove the tiles. Regrouting is easy, just read my past columns about that.

Hi Mark, Just wondering if I can regrout kitchen tile. I've moved into a place that has groovy 70s tile with thick spaces of chocolate brown grout. I'm planning on using an off white/cream to regrout.
1. Does it matter what type of grout I use to regrout this chocolate colored grout? It seems a little rough so they might have used sanded...I can't tell.
2. How far down should I drill with my tool? Do I need to drill any grout away at all? I'm trying to do some cost cutting and planned on using my drimmel to get some of the grout out, some of it shows cracks closer to the counter edge.

Roberta,
Mark was let go for impersonating an expert....:->

I answer all of these questions in many of my other columns about grouting. Try reading those to discover the correct grout to use as well as how much old grout to remove. Be sure to read any and all comments at the bottom of the columns.

Thanks, never did it before but my job came out beautiful with your instructions.

Mark, I followed all your steps for regrouting but even after several days of curing the grout is falling out.Could the underlying old grout be incompatable with new grout?I removed as much I possibly could with grout removing tools.

Tim,
To save some $$ we did our own tile work when we built 3 years ago. My son did most of the grouting on the tub. It's got a few bubbles and some places are thinneree than otheres. Do i need to remove the old grout before I regrout it?
Thanks,
Jack Thomas

i am needing to regrout my bathroom
floor, do i need a special cleaning
fluid and then reqrout..
what should i do.

Hello,
We had our shower tile floor professionally cleaned, and it appears that in the process they used a "turbo power rinse" and "surrogated brushes" which were so aggressive that they actually wore away significant portions of the grout. Now the grout has small holes and cracks in it everywhere. How should this be repaired? If it is regrouted, can one grout over the old grout, or does one need to remove all old grout and regrout from scratch?

I wonder how I can put back the ceramic tile soap dish that has fallen off the tile wall in the shower. Both the soap dish and the surrounding tiles are intact. What do I need to purchase and how do I hold the soap dish in place while it dries?
Thanks!

Anna,

Check Tim's column http://www.askthebuilder.com/738_Shower_Soap_Dish.shtml. Sounds like the same problem you have.

Please advise if I have to remove the old grout from floor tiling or if I can re-grout over the top of the old grout? Thanks

Hi Mark,

I had a new house built in Nov of 2007. Our master bathroom has a tile floor in the shower and I have had to have the grout redone twice since we moved in. It keeps cracking and spliting and water seeps in under the tile. The builder is trying to feed me some BS about having to do the grout yearly as part of upkeep.

My question is this - How often should a tile shower floor have to be redone becasue water hits it daily from taking showers. Is yearly maintenance necessary or is there something else that can be done to prevent water leakage and grout deterioration?