| Regrouting a Tile Shower | Applying new grout |
| Sealing and Caulking | Regrouting supplies |
When areas of look moldy, yellow, discolored and start to come out then this is an indication that the rest of the grout is also in poor condition. The damaged grout may not look too bad from the outside but what you are not seeing behind the tiles in the walls can be a dangerous situation.
Over time water will make its way through the weakened grout and start accumulating in your walls. Eventually mold and mildew can grow in your walls and then can start eating into your wall joists and can cause serious problems. Additionally the moldy walls can attract ants and termites into your home causing additional structural damage.
The best way to prevent your shower from failing and causing excess damage to your home is to regrout your shower. Regrouting a tile shower is a difficult task but can be done by many industrious DIY type homeowners. You should only attempt to regrout a shower with small grout joints that have unsanded grout in them. You can read here about the many distinct differences between sanded vs unsanded grout. If you have sanded grout then you may want to consider a grout colorant procedure to restore your tile shower back to like new condition. When regrouting your shower you should consider replacing any broken or cracked tiles while you are doing the regrouting procedure. Since you will already be removing the grout replacing a broken tile will be much easier at this time. Also since you will be regrouting the entire shower you will be certain that the replaced tiles have matching grout around them.
From the picture below you can see that there is no caulking in the shower and the grout has become discolored, weak and has fallen out in various sections of the shower.
The first thing that needs to be done to regrout a shower is to remove all of the old dirty and moldy grout and caulk in the shower.
It is best to first remove all the old dirty caulk in the shower. This can be done with a plain old razor scraper tool. Just scrape away and remove all the old caulking as much as possible. It also helps to have some isopropyl alcohol to help in removing the old grout and cleaning the tile surface where the old caulking was.
After you have removed all the old caulking then it is time to remove the old grout.
There are many ways to remove grout but the best way is with a Fein multimaster or supercut tool with a diamond bit. This is the hands down best tool for removing the bad grout. This Fein tool is can also be fitted with many other blades to perform a variety of home improvement tasks. If you are going to be regrouting showers for a business the Fein Supercut is a much more powerful tool made for the serious home improvement contractor. If you are just a DIY homeowner then the Fein multimaster tool will work just fine. .
The grout should be dug out at least 1/8th of an inch deep so that new grout can have a firm base to adhere to. Do not attempt to just apply new grout over the damaged existing grout.
Just applying new grout over the existing grout is called skim coating grout and this is a very bad practice. The new grout will not adhere to the old grout and there will not be a sufficient depth for the new grout to have a firm footing. Over time the new grout will start flaking and chipping away and you will not be solving any of your moldy wall issues with this type of skim coating procedure.
Always wear eye protection as well as a dust mask.
The Fein tool works extremely well to grind away the old grout. Ensure that you hold the tool steady and move it in a steady up and down motion along the grout lines.
Removing the old grout is not too difficult with the fein multimaster. Fein makes quality tools and most professional grout restoration contractors pay the extra money on the Fein Supercut due to its increased power and durability. For most DIY homeowners a Fein Multimaster tools is a more than sufficient tool with many other uses besides regrouting a tile shower.
Use a steady hand holding the Fein multimaster tool and move the Fein tool so that the diamond blade goes in an up and down or side to side motion. You should hold the tool with two hands for better control and always wear safety glasses and an dust mask to protect your eyes and lungs from the grout dust. Let the fein tool do the work and try not to put much pressure on the grout lines. the diamond bit combined with the oscillation action of the fein tool will do all the work for you. It does not take too long to remove all the grout in a typical tile shower. You will be able to get in a grove after a few minutes when you get a feel for how the fein tool works.
Removing all the grout in a shower can get a bit tiring on your hands and arms for some woman and men not used to doing home maintenance tasks. You may want to plan on removing the grout in sections over a couple days. It can also be helpful to do one horizontal grout line followed by one vertical grout line so your hands and arms do not get as tired from holding up the fein tool. It is really not too difficult of a task to remove all the grout in a shower and it usually only takes a few hours to have all the grout removed from a typical shower.
You will probably realize that the Fein diamond bits are relatively expensive. If you take care of your bits then they can last your for about 5-10 typical regrouting jobs. It is best to use the round diamond bit for removing most of the grout in the shower. Do not put too much pressure on the diamond bit so that you do not wear a flat spot on the diamond bit. Also it is best to continually rotate the round diamond bit after every 15 minutes of use so that the diamond bit will wear evenly. If you take care of the expensive bit then you will be surprised at how good it works and how much use you can get out of a single diamond bit.
Do not attempt to use any carbide or off brand bit to remove the old grout. These bits will not last very long at all and they also will not grind away the grout easily like the diamond bits from fein will.
You can use a utility knife to remove the grout in the edges where the Fein tool can not reach. Additionally you can purchase the Fein sickle diamond bit to remove the grout in the corners and along the tub and floor.
A good quality utility knife like the Lenox Gold is an essential tool in any regrouting procedure. The Lenox Gold utility knife has a comfortable ergonomic grip so it does not hurt your hands while using it. Also the Lenox Gold utility knife has a quick release button so you can quickly and efficiently replace the dull utility knife blades without a lot of down time spent replacing the utility knife blades. A good quality utility knife can also help you to quickly cut out the old caulking prior to removing the grout.
Make sure to clean out all the old grout from all the grout lines. You do not want to have loose grout sitting in the grout lines and you want to be sure that all the grout got removed from the grout lines.
A brush type grout cleaning tool works best to clean out the old grout from the grout lines. You may find that there is still some grout left on the tiles and this excess grout can be chipped away with the same scraper tool that was used to remove the caulk.
Inspect all the grout lines to make sure that you have taken out at least 1/8" of grout so the new grout will have a firm base to adhere to.
Ensure that no bits of grout are left in the grout lines by vacuuming all the grout lines with a shop vac.
You should l use a dust filter in the shop vac to avoid blowing dust out of the shop vac.
Inspect all of the grout lines to be sure that they are all cleaned out good and there is no grout left on the face of the tiles.
Regrouting tile floors with takes a slightly different approach. You can read more information here about how to regrout a tile floor.
Regrouting a tile shower is a laborious messy and time consuming job. The time and cost it takes the average DIY homeowner can easily be justified in hiring a professional tile and grout restoration contractor.
You can read some valuable information and tips on how to hire a tile, grout and stone cleaning and restoration contractor at our contractor information page here. Grout Restoration Contractor.
Supplies needed for regrouting Applying new grout to shower