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Wife's christmas gift... aka present to myself.

TorontoBuilder

TorontoBuilder

Sapientia et Doctrina Stabilitas
I'm so frikken tired of hearing my wife complain about not being able to get the grout in the shower sparking white clean that I decided I'd give her the gift of new grout.

Yeah yeah, she is getting something else too, but really this has way bigger impact than it sounds.

Now the tiler was such an incompetent clown that the grout lines are too small, and few of the tile corners line up, so the grout file cant work. So I break out the dremel diamond coated disk. It cuts the glazing in a heartbeat at the slightest shake of the hand....

The wire brush leaves black metal on the grout. No good. I finally settled on the disk for plastic. If you're a ham fisted clown it too will cut thru glaze but with a light touch it works. I managed to get one end of the tub regrouted tonight.

To be continued. But I can say it may have been easier to just rip out all the tile and put in new premium large tiles.
 
That was this week's gift to SWMBO, but I'm just too lazy to do it myself. Hired my son's (contractor) tile guy. Took him two days to clean, strip, re-apply grout and re-do all of the silicone sealant around a 3'x5' tiled walk-in shower. Wallet is quite injured but it looks great and worth the money or effort.
 
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TorontoBuilder said:
I'm so frikken tired of hearing my wife complain about not being able to get the grout in the shower sparking white clean that I decided I'd give her the gift of new grout.

Yeah yeah, she is getting something else too, but really this has way bigger impact than it sounds.

Now the tiler was such an incompetent clown that the grout lines are too small, and few of the tile corners line up, so the grout file cant work. So I break out the dremel diamond coated disk. It cuts the glazing in a heartbeat at the slightest shake of the hand....

The wire brush leaves black metal on the grout. No good. I finally settled on the disk for plastic. If you're a ham fisted clown it too will cut thru glaze but with a light touch it works. I managed to get one end of the tub regrouted tonight.

To be continued. But I can say it may have been easier to just rip out all the tile and put in new premium large tiles.
Click to expand...
I was told by a gent in the industry that he uses an exacto knife with a new blade to remove the "thin" grout lines. I haven't tried it yet, but this will be an up an coming task for me. Following.
 
Grout is very hard stuff :( Used to use a carbide encrusted knife doohickey but ya leverage and uneven lines made it super easy to chip the tile. Never had to do an entire shower grout removal, would not be fun.
Maybe something like this would work?
www.homedepot.ca

QEP Pro Handheld Grout Saw with Blade Storage. For Cleaning, Stripping & Removing Grout | The Home Depot Canada

The QEP Professional Grout Saw is designed to easily remove old, dirty or pitted grout. It includes two heavy duty carbide blades. It is designed to maintain exceptional leverage and accuracy, using 1 blade for thinner grout lines and 2 blades for wider grout lines. The ergonomic handle helps...
www.homedepot.ca www.homedepot.ca
 
quitereal said:
Grout is very hard stuff :( Used to use a carbide encrusted knife doohickey but ya leverage and uneven lines made it super easy to chip the tile. Never had to do an entire shower grout removal, would not be fun.
Maybe something like this would work?
www.homedepot.ca

QEP Pro Handheld Grout Saw with Blade Storage. For Cleaning, Stripping & Removing Grout | The Home Depot Canada

The QEP Professional Grout Saw is designed to easily remove old, dirty or pitted grout. It includes two heavy duty carbide blades. It is designed to maintain exceptional leverage and accuracy, using 1 blade for thinner grout lines and 2 blades for wider grout lines. The ergonomic handle helps...
www.homedepot.ca www.homedepot.ca
Click to expand...
That's the one the blades are too wide
 
I have tile in several locations in my house. When I had to replace a couple and remove the grout this is the tool I used:

Grout Tool.jpg
 
Yup, wife wining about dirty looking grout in the bathrooms and kitchen, the cure was this masquerading as a Xmas present. https://www.amazon.ca/Vapamore-MR-7...08CG4WM3R/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Fantastic machine, the combination of steam, heat and pressure melts off grease and grime.
Now that everything in the house has been steamed clean, it lives out in the shop and works great on all the greasy old machines I drag home.
Have been able to cut way back on my use of solvents.
 

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  • Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 07-33-35 Vapamore MR-750 Ottimo Heavy Duty Steam Cleaner. Electronic ...png
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they make diamond grout blades for oscillating tools, they work like a hot damn if you have an oscillating tool

www.homedepot.ca

Dremel 1/16" GROUT REMOVAL BLADE - MM501 | The Home Depot Canada

Dremel oscillating multi-tools and accessories offer Novice to Pro home renovators the solutions to tackle any project both inside and outside the home. Known for versatility, Dremel oscillating is limitless in application: cut, sand, grind, scrape, plus remove grout and rust. The Dremel MM501...
www.homedepot.ca www.homedepot.ca
 
Elektrishun said:
I have tile in several locations in my house. When I had to replace a couple and remove the grout this is the tool I used:
Click to expand...
Seems sacrilegious but looks remarkably similar to triangular insert LOL. Actually not a bad idea for people on this forum, it has about the right profile.

I did a couple summers of tile setting including many re-grout jobs. The old school white stuff is pretty straightforward, the mineral & binder is relatively soft compared to the tile. And those tiles were typically glazed which tends to let go of grout a bit easier. Even coarse pad will remove remnants. You need enough grout removed to allow the new grout something to key & bond into.

The sand based grout with epoxy or polymer binder can be tough stuff. And that in conjunction with unglazed or thin glazed tile can be more challenging. The diamond tools will buzz through grout just fine, but they are just as happy to score the tile edge if you wander. Depends on the tile used & grout job. What can work if the grout is sufficient width is grind a slot through the middle with the right blade width & then kind of chisel the remnant from the tile side inward to the slot so it shears, ideally taking no tile along for the ride. The best thing you can do for grout is wash with mild acid & re-apply sealer with some maintenance frequency. Even so, grout joints are water permeable to some degree especially if things shift & move, so age just gets the better of it. Good luck.

1734909903836.png
1734909926283.png
 
I had a rental and needed to repair the shower grout asap, a small water stain was showing on the ceiling bellow. There was section which was grout less, the tiles had almost no spacing in between.
I bought a small diamond coated blade aka grout remover with curvy handle and surface scratch all the line. I was lucky enough the tiles had a good rounded edge. I filled the grooves completely with grout and let it dry a bit longer than usual. Did the wet sponge polish very carefully leaving has much grout in the groove as possible. I found it looked kind of odd, because now the grout was much larger, shy of 1/4" , but it bought me some time and save quite a bit of money I didn't have
The renter wife was super happy and it was good for 8 years and then I sold the place.
 
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