Tile grout

Posted by TheWanderer on February 5, 2007, 9:10 pm

We've just bought a new house about five months ago and I'm having
problems with the master bath shower grout.

All along the edges inside the shower the grout is starting to turn
darker and it has cracks in it. It's fairly obvious to me that water is
getting into the cracks and causing the grout to erode.

The problem is that the builder says this is fairly normal and not to
worry about it!!!!!!!!! Should I or should I not demand that he
re-grout around the base of the shower enclosure??

Thanks for the help.

Posted by professorpaul on February 5, 2007, 9:34 pm

He should replace it under the customary one year builder's warrenty.
I have had this show up later. I simply dug it out with a grout saw
(handy tool!!) and regrouted with silicon caulk. The base of the
shower had settled and the grout had pulled away. 1/2 hour job, at
most. Once the house "settles," this problem should go away. I wanted
the resiliency of the silicon caulk to avoid the problem of "mortar"
type grout breaking up/cracking in this case.

When I did some tile work in a bath a couple of years ago, I ran a
small bead of silicon caulk around the edge of the tub before I set
the tile, then grouted in the usual manner. Any "flex" seal problems
got taken care of by the silicon caulk.

I'm not sure if this is the accepted way to deal with it, but sealed
up nicely in both cases.

Posted by Michael B on February 5, 2007, 9:45 pm

If your surgeon were to amputate the wrong leg, would you go back
to have him do it right the next time?

If it were my shower, and the grout was degrading, I'd use a grout
removal tool, and then replace the grout with sanded grout that had an
appropriate amount of acrylic additive so that it wouldn't be so
moisture permeable. And then I'd seal it after two days. And if
the shower was going to be used while the removal/replacement
process was going on, I'd hang a plastic film to keep the repair area
from getting wet. And don't rinse the grout down the drains unless
you're ready to clean them out afterwards.
And in the process, I'd be commenting on how dismal a product
grout is for stopping water migration, and how my way of doing tile
work is so much better. But that's a different story.

> We've just bought a new house about five months ago and I'm having
> problems with the master bath shower grout.
> All along the edges inside the shower the grout is starting to turn
> darker and it has cracks in it. It's fairly obvious to me that water is
> getting into the cracks and causing the grout to erode.
> The problem is that the builder says this is fairly normal and not to
> worry about it!!!!!!!!! Should I or should I not demand that he
> re-grout around the base of the shower enclosure??
> Thanks for the help.

Posted by Bob F on February 5, 2007, 11:15 pm

The experts I talked to were quite firm on the opinion that grout
was not appropriate for corners and the tub edge. They recommended
100% silicone caulk for those locations to accomodate the inevitable
movement which will occur over time and temperature swings.

Bob

Posted by Michael B on February 6, 2007, 10:30 pm

What can I say? Looks like your question has been answered,
and that the consensus is that grout is a dismal product for
stopping moisture migration. Now, for those others of you that
would like to do a job you can be pleased with 10 years later,
Google my last name (baugh) along with the terms 'silicone',
and maybe the term 'arctic ice'. Completely different concept
for the home remodel job.
For those that don't want to do the search, I advocate the use
of 100% NONPAINTABLE silicone, because if you can't make
paint stick to it, it's less vulnerable to staining.
And after removing the grout from along the shower base, be sure
to be putting plenty of weight to the area being caulked. If it were
a tub being grouted, you'd fill it with water first.

> > We've just bought a new house about five months ago and I'm having
> > problems with the master bath shower grout.
> > All along the edges inside the shower the grout is starting to turn
> > darker and it has cracks in it. It's fairly obvious to me that water is
> > getting into the cracks and causing the grout to erode.
> > The problem is that the builder says this is fairly normal and not to
> > worry about it!!!!!!!!! Should I or should I not demand that he
> > re-grout around the base of the shower enclosure??
> > Thanks for the help.

> The experts I talked to were quite firm on the opinion that grout
> was not appropriate for corners and the tub edge. They recommended
> 100% silicone caulk for those locations to accomodate the inevitable
> movement which will occur over time and temperature swings.
> Bob

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