I plan to remodel my bathroom. We do not like cleaning bathroom tile wall. The grout gap between tiles are very difficult to clean. Can you recommend any better way for bathroom walls? I found replacing tile with marble is quite expensive. Any idea? Thank you.
Seal the grout?
The same 2-part epoxy they use for poured epoxy flooring. Do all exposed surfaces. Clean the room with a fire-hose.
paint?
Cut Marble slab would be the MOST expensive route you could choose. Cultured Marble is probably cheaper but I don't have a sense of how much. Corian and similar also offer such products
I have seen "Shower Kits" at home centers that are made up usually of molded fiberglas panels with minimal seams. Tub and shower stores will have a wider selection. Steam room kits are virtually sealed units completely pre plumbed and often fit in the same area as a corner shower.
Stone 12x12 or 16x16 or 18x18 tile can be set with no grout line. With stone, you may not clean as much grout but you might use that time and money stripping and sealing it regularly instead.
Bigger tiles = less grout lines
If ceramic tile, use a sanitary cove molding at the bottom of the wall to eliminate the 90 degree angle and eliminate the usual caulk line.
IMO wide grout lines are easier to clean than narrow lines (at the bottom of the curved tile edge)
Epoxy grouts are easier to clean and contain fewer ingredients tasty to fungus.
With your existing installation, a good sealer (after cleaning and grout patching) then use a spray on shower cleaner and you will need to clean reletively infrequently.
"Epoxy grouts are easier to clean and contain fewer ingredients tasty to fungus."
I really meant to say; Epoxy grouts are smoother and trap less crud on the surface than sanded grout. They are somewhat self sealing.
We visited the cultured Marble show room in San Jose
We did seal the grout of current bathroom. But in time, the tile gap grout just easily kept accumulating black stains.
Can you suggest any permanent solution? The grout sealer I got from Home Depot is just too diluted. Is there any thicker and better epoxy grout sealer?
We guess the s> >I plan to remodel my bathroom.
No. You will not find a permanent solution. Moisture and a food source is all mold needs.
Keeping the area dry (good ventilation) and clean (no food) will greatly help. If you see it starting to mold, then it needs to be cleaned and maybe resealed. Sealing does not last forever. Household bleach is good for killing mold. It can be removed once it is dead.
The permanent solution I recommend is airing out the humidity after showering and bath about 15 minutes and taking out the upper rubber of your bathroom window. So you will surely have enough dry air and the air humidity can come out permanently. The next would be a permanent heating of the room to hinder the cooling off of the walls by night.
All seals on surfaces and in the wall will make things worse, if you get not rid with the moistured air.
Only to open the window some minutes after showering will not be enough, what you can see at the pic. The region near the window will cool off, heating air stream will not come enough to these regions near the wall-ceiling corner and so the wall sucks a lot of condensate. Painted with an plastified latex coating, the air humidity comes in, but the wet condensate in the pores never out:
We did seal the grout of current bathroom. But in time, the tile gap grout just easily kept accumulating black stains.
Can you suggest any permanent solution? The grout sealer I got from Home Depot is just too diluted. Is there any thicker and better epoxy grout sealer?
We guess the single piece marble or artificial marble is best way to go, but is there any compatible solution, but less in cost?
We visited the cultured Marble show room in San Jose
Another option is to have teh tile refinished. The refinishing also makes a lovely coat over the old grout into a smoother easier to clean surface. I had this process done, and have been very happy with the results:
This in concert with moisture elimination in your bathroom (do you have a properly functioning vent that works well enough to keep your mirror from steaming up? If not, that could be most of the problem). Also consider wiping down the walls after a shower. All these will help.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
It's professionally installed. It's not something for DIYer by any stretch. It is a sprayed on product, but there is chemical adhesion involved so the resulting coating turns out to be be quite durable.
I was skeptical as well, but I was very happy with that spending of $350. If the tile isn't struturally sound to beginwith, don't bother, though.
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