Hello All,
I purchased a foreclosed home about a year ago and finally got the floors done, the walls painted and a lot of the trim work complete. Now it is time to re-grout and re-caulk the shower in the master bath. I called a few people for estimates and discounted having someone do it rather quickly. I got estimates ranging from $650 to $150. No way in the world am I going to pay $650 for a simple re-grout job and can I really trust someone to do it for $150. So, here I am doing it myself.
As of today all the old caulk has been scraped away and I am working on prepping the old grout so I can put new grout in. To remove the old grout I am using a Dremel tool with a carbide bit that seems to do a great job. The question I have is: Do I have to remove ALL the old grout? The guy at the Home Depot told me that this was not necessary to do, that what needed to be done is to remove enough of the old grout so the new will have a surface to adhere to, about a 1/8" is what he recommended. This is what I have done and I am almost finished and ready to apply the grout. So, is this guy correct or do I need to go back and make sure there are no traces of the old grout in between the tiles?
Also, how should I clean the surface prior to applying the new grout? Obviously I can’t use water b/c there is no caulk or grout. There is a lot of dust from removing the old stuff, any suggestions on how to prep the surface for the application? Any advice anyone may have would be appreciated.
Remove any lose grout. If you are changing colors the more you remove the better the results will be. If you are sticking with something similar in color I wouldn’t go all out trying to scrape out the old stuff.
After making a mess use a shop vac to clean up. Then go over everything with a damp sponge. Rinsing the sponge as necessary.
You want the room dust free before sealing anything.
If it is natural stone you’ll want to seal it before grouting. On other tiles if the gloss still looks good I’d let it be till after grouting.
After grouting follow the grouts instruction for cure time. Clean up any mess you’ve made with the grout, get it off the tiles etc. Get the room back to dust free. Seal the grout. You can just run sealer down the grout lines or seal everything including the tile. They have sealers for both methods.
They have combo sealing grout products, it works more like caulking and people do get good results with that. I prefer the old fashioned bag o powdered grout.
Thanks for the quick reply. We are going to go with a similar color so it is good to know I am on the right track. I have removed enough grout between the tiles that a good “trench” can be seen, so I think it is good enough. I figure that the worst that can happen is I have to do it all over again! Nothing like a learning experience . :dubious:
As long as enough old grout is removed that it is not going to be visible after re-grouting you should be good. Any loose material should be removed. You can wipe everything down with a damp sponge to remove dust, a little moisture is not going to do any harm - you apply the new grout wet after all.
I usually recommend people stay away from white grout in showers and other heavy use areas because it will discolour with dirt. Sealing as mentioned above is a step that should not be skipped.