grout for shower stall

[Drew Morton]

I recently had to do some work to my shower drain, and in the process had to dig out some of the grout. No problem, I thought, ill just regrout when Im done. I went to HD, bought some pre-mixed grout, and had at it. Cleaned, dried, and basically followed the directions. After the appropriate drying time, I used the shower again, and the grout ended up all mushy. I cleaned out the grout again, re-grouted, and let dry even longer. The grout was hard and dry, and I used the shower again. Same results. Mushy grout. Is there a specific grout that I should be usung for these very wet conditions? I looked at all the different grouts, and none said anything about being specifically for showers or baths.

Thanks in advance,

Drew

[10Squared]

[jeffc]

Premixed grout worked fine for my patch job. If this always happened with premixed grout, no one would ever buy it. Something specific is wrong - bad batch or something?

[LBaker]

Premixed grout is junk. It might be ok for some small repairs but NEVER use it in wet areas and expect it to hold up. Traditional grouts are made with portland cement and there is no way to premix portland grouts. It would get hard...

[jeffc]

Premixed grout is FOR wet areas. Use your head man. We're not talking about it "holding up". It failed immediately. There was something wrong, and it wasn't that he used premixed grout.

[LBaker]

Look, I don't know your experience, but I've been a tile setter for 25 years. Premixed grout is nothing more than a colored organic mastic. Any ceramic mastic will re-emulsify when exposed to constant moisture. If you don't want to beleive me, will you trust Custom Building Products.

Pre-Mixed Tile Grout is a non-sanded white grout used to repair grout joints up to 1/8" (3 mm). USES For repairing narrow grout joints up to 1/8" (3 mm). LIMITATIONS For dry areas only. For wet areas, use White Dry Tile Grout or Polyblend® Non-Sanded Grout. SURFACE PREPARATION Remove a minimum of 1/16" (1.6 mm) of existing grout.

[jeffc]

Well, I've had good results with premixed grout in wet areas - apparently out of ignorance - but then I also sealed the grout. The quote was from Polyblend? Maybe others are different, I don't know. I've used Polyblend for tile setting, but premixed for little patches/cracks.

[jeffc]

Is this not premixed grout? If not, what do you call it? Grout repair?

[William W. Plummer]

I used expoxy grout for the shower I built. It is expensive and hard=20 to use, but it does not fail and does not mildew.

[LBaker]

I would call that caulk and it too will fail when used around the drain of a shower. The mud bed in a shower is constantly wet if the shower is used at all. You need to use a cement based product if you want it to hold up. Epoxy grout could be used ut that's overkill.

[10Squared]

I'm not familiar with that product, but I'm no tilesetter. Many years ago I put some silicon based imitation grout in my shower. It never matched the original grout and tended to mildew. Recently I pulled that out and replaced with the same type of grout that was used originally, the traditional portland cement based stuff they used 40 years ago. It matches the rest of the grout in the bathroom and looks great. You cannot premix the real thing.

[jeffc]

>

Any caulk I've heard of is flexible. This stuff is hard.

[LBaker]

> >

You just don't give up do ya? The OP was trying to repair grout around a drain in the floor. If you would READ the date on the product you are suggesting you would see that it is recomended for WALLS. It is also called water resistant not waterproof. Cement grouts will not break down from water unless they have a low ph and even then will not do so quickly. From Dow:

"For quick and easy tile grout repairs in showers, tubs and around backsplashes. For use on ceramic tile and mosaic wall tiles. Water-resistant. Safe latex-based formula. Easy water clean-up. Easy-to-use sqeeze tube - NO CAULK GUN NEEDED."

Now stop giving bad advise. Just because you were lucky doesn't mean that you were right....

[jeffc]

You spelled advice wrong.