Ceramic Tile/ Grout question

All,

I have a large shower with 12+" ceramic tile on the floor and walls. The tile was set over schluter[sp?] waterproofing and bright orange dimply stuff. Quite state of th art 2 years ago, available at HD now.

The tile is designed to slope to the drain and it does, but the tile guy didn't set it quite the way I wanted, and it as such the first tile around the edge is steeper thant the 6 or 9 in the middle. This causes a little water to remain in the grout lines till it evaporates. Hasn't been a problem, but I have noticed that in these areas [and not elsewhere] there are some 1/8-3/16 inch diameter voids in the grout. the grout also has an overall spally feel, like a little bit or sand comes up when you rub it with your finger, where it doesn't elsewhere. I have some of the grout in the garage[packrat] and can effect somekind of repair, but am wondering if there is a more permanent solution.

The tile guy said the grout 'didn't need' to be sealed. The grout bag said you could so I did. Is it possible I didn't seal this area well?

My plan is to dig out the small holes and fill with new grout. I jsut would like to do this once.

Comments?

G
Reply to
yourname
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If the grout is looking like its not even its not hard to scrape it out just enough to add a new coat, or use a dremel tool to remove it. What I do is scrape out what I need with a sharp tool and re grout the effected area if you have the identicle grout as was used when the floor was grouted , if not redo the whole floor area. I always use a good quality sealer regardless of what the tile guys says. Some grout has sealer built in some doesn t. It doesn t hurt to seal it either way it won t hurt. I have grouted several bathrooms and always use a sealer where direct water will go. I re seal the grout on a yearly basis.

Reply to
Dick

That sounds pretty bad. Those aren't voids, he cheated you out of grout! ;-)

How old is the grout? If it's been opened, I wouldn't use it if it's over six months old. I don't think a piecework fix is going to work anyway. You might have to cut out the grout and start over.

...and cause huge holes like this? Is the subfloor under the shower stable? It sounds like you're getting flex in there that's causing the grout to fail. I doubt it's the sealer (how can you do that wrong ;), but I'm just a DIYer too.

I'd cut out all the grout and replace it.

Reply to
krw

Are these voids in the corners of where tiles meet? 1/8 - 3/16 is huge how big are the joints? These are refered to as bee holes and are probably the result of a few things. If they are as I mentiond above he forgot to take the spacers out. Or the joints were not completely full to begin with. Or he over mixed the grout with to much water and weakened it ( the

areas and since you have the matching material simply reuse it. If its not good finding the match is easy. Sealing tile in my opinion serves one purpose to keep stains from occuring. it has no impact on strenght properties nor is it necessary or related to keeping things together at all. If tile is done right the proper grout is used the 2 become one unit. Tile has been laid for thousands of years without sealants in the grout and held up. If you want to seal for stains yes by all means but it will not FIX poor workmanship which is clearly what you recieved. A slope should be undectable and if the slop has to be that great using smaller tiles is the answer to hide it. good luck

yourname wrote:

Reply to
Italian

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