Last year I regrouted the shower. To dig out the grout, I used a razor cutter and, often, a chisel! Carbide tools were out because the grout would bring chips of tile with it.
As you can tell, that grout was HARD. So hard, the work would make my hands and wrists hurt. The doctor diagnosed carpal tunnel, so I spread the work out over a very long period, and swore off future regrouting projects.
Then I discovered that the grout in other rooms was not nearly as hard or tenacious. What a relief.
I was wondering: Are there different types of tile grout, with different strengths? All I’ve seen is sanded vs. unsanded, and with-or-without latex additive–and they’re good enough for me. I don’t ever want to deal with Carpal Tunnel Grout again–I’m just asking out of curiosity.
Janet
P.S.
Another odd thing about that shower: The floor tile is about 1/4 of an inch too high for the walls. It seems to me that when tiling a shower, you would work from the floor up to avoid such mismatches.
It occurred to me that shower might have had a serious leak at one time, which the previous owner dealt with by putting a new layer of tile over the old. If that was the case, it certainly worked because it hasn’t leaked since we’ve been here. But it’s not the way I would have done it.
Replies
I have used 2 and 3 part epoxy grout in the last year or so. As the name implies it is an epoxy glue with color and sand added. Kind of a pain to use but it looks great when it is finished, and it cleans easy. It can be had in some very bold colors and you can add things like glitter or automotive metal flake. Did you know they make tools to remove the grout ? Some of the carbide tools they make for grout removal work fairly well without damaging the tile.
*Epoxy*? That would explain the grout pulling off chips of tile. I knew that it adheres well, but had no idea it was also hard. << Kind of a pain to use but it looks great when it is finished, and it cleans easy.>>Hmm...perhaps I was a bit hasty in dismissing carpal tunnel grout. I just regrouted the kitchen counters and applied a sealer (The Impregnator 511), but spilled liquids still get through and stain the grout. Is epoxy grout stain-proof?--because then I would be tempted to redo the counters. (It wouldn't matter how tough it is to remove epoxy grout, because we're planning to get new counters in a year or two.)In what way is epoxy grout difficult to use?Janet
Being epoxy I would think the epoxy grout would not stain from spilled liquids. In being a pain to use, as with most epoxies you only have a limited time to get the grout installed before it starts to harden. Hot humid days will accellerate the curing time. Also instead of wiping the grout like normal you need 2 buckets of water and 2 sponges, wipe the tile and then rinse and do it again and when you think you have it wipe it with the clean sponge. Do not wipe back and forth with the final cleaning, wipe 1 direction 1 time and then rinse on your final cleaning. It takes 3 times as long to install the epoxy grout [for me] and it is also expensive compared to normal grout. But I think it is worth the hassle