Regrouting

[Mark G]

Looking at a small bathroom floor,56 y.o. house The tiles are tight factory joints, in good shape and solid but the grout is coming out in places and the customer would like it regrouted. Have a diamond blade in my MM. Is that the tool of choice? How deep do I have to go? Latex additive or just water?

[tomthetoolman40]

Re: Regrouting

Mark

The MM diamond blades are too thick for your application. You need at least 1/8" for that. Sorry I don't have a suggestion for what to use.

[dgbldr]

Re: Regrouting

The tiles are tight factory joints,

What is a "factory joint" and what is "tight"? As Mark said, anything under 1/8 is going to be tough. Unless it's so soft that you can scrape it out with a utility knife.

[mbyrne]

Re: Regrouting

Sounds like the floor is covered with 4 1/4- or 6-inch gypsum-bodied glazed tiles that have a spacer molded into the sides of each tile. If so, you will have a job on your hands trying to remove the old grout since the joint will be so narrow - about 1/16-inch if my tile guess is right.

If the grout is coming out because it is soft, the job may not be too difficult. Either way, a utility knife is probably the safest way to remove the old grout. For best results you will need to remove grout to a minimum depth of 1/8-inch; otherwise, the new grout will not have enough purchase to remain in the joints. You will go through a lot of blades so if you do not already have one, get a 50- or 100-blade dispenser. After cutting the grout with the knife, vacuum out the joints and re-fill with latex-modified grout, and when this cures, apply a protective sealer like Miracle 511.

There are a few very narrow dry-cutting diamond blades available, but unless you are very lucky, this tool will cut into the tiles as well as the grout.

[Graacc1]

Re: Regrouting

I presume you would recommend an UN-sanded grout, due to the joint size.

Geoff