Repairing Cracked Grout Line in the Shower
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Repairing grout lines in the shower
1) Removal, with a hand grout saw
2) Cleaning/prep
3) Applying the grout
4) Cleaning the area
5) Sealer
This is just one way to do this. There are many different ways but this is how I did it. If you have a large amount to repair I would recommend a grout saw attachment for a power tool. That will make the removal faster.
It took me about two hours to remove all the grout I had to repair. Of course it was all in the corners and added up to about ten feet that needed replacing.
In this video are the products I picked up at my local big orange box home center. I am not sponsored or endorsing these products. What ever product you use make sure you read and understand all warnings, safety guidelines, and directions before starting any project.
I repaired the crack just by applying new grout over the crack and wiping off the excess. worked perfectly. Been 9 months still looks great.
jzizzles that would be the easier solution, but if there is a sealer over the existing grout the new grout may not hold. Also the possibility it re-cracking is always there. The best solution is to remove the old grout and replace it with new grout. Some professionals will also caulk the corners.
Corner replacement was exactly what I needed and you did a thorough job. Thank you!
(Go Avalanche!!!)
Thanks Tim, glad I finished your video, it gave me a general direction. I will try myself and let you know how it goes after.
Your video was as funny as it was educational. Thanks for the knowledge and the laughs!😂
Thanks so much for your video. After 10 years my grout is starting to crack and I needed to use the sanded Polyblend and your video was one of the few that showed the process. Again thank you so much.
L W Glad I could help.
Your instructions are very clear. So easy to follow. Thank you.
Exactly what an un-handy guy like me needs to know and be confident in what I’m doing.! Thanks for much for making it easy.
Easy - I would use the word doable. Confidence comes after doing it ones or twice and finding out, yes I can actually do this.
I always keep in mind there may be mistakes but with patience you can hide most mistakes. You may see them but no one else will.
@@code3imagination441 Now that the grouting project is finally done, I agree - it’s doable. Lot of time and effort and not easy, but it turned out well. Thanks so much, Tim. Your online tutorial helped me every step of the way.
@@paulmarck9349 t
Thanks My weakness is a cross between time and opportunity cost with big hands and not wanting to be a super clean and it becomes a mess at times
Hello. If I only need to repair small cracks and holes in the grout on the shower floor, do I need to take out the entire old grout with the grout saw? I just need to do small touch ups. Thank you for the video.
This helped me do the corners in the shower with no problems. Super easy. Thanks!
Wow. I see those EXACT tiles every morning
Love the interludes. 😂😂😂Great advice as well.
Love the recap at the end!
Great and simple and to the point instructions! Thanks!
Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!
Great demo! Everyone else dodges the corners 😂
It’s better to use silicon instead of grout. Silicon is more movement resistant and it should be used for all corners.
But its ugly
Greetings from Tampa Bay Daniel. Your great video had all the information I needed to complete the job and was under 10 minutes. Thank you from a new fan.
Peraonally i would have siliconed the corners due to expansion and contraction. Thats why it originally cracked i guess. Unless the polyblend flexes? Idk
Paul Pagano new construction home. They cracked as the house settled. They cracked with in the first year of being here. Once I fixed it they have not re cracked.
Paul Pagano you are correct. Caulk the inside corners, don't grout.
So if the corners should have ( I stress "should have") been caulked, then why don't they just do that when they first do the tile, I've had 3 new houses and never seen a right angle grout joining on wall to wall or wall to floor or this to that ever anything but grouted. I did see in the big box stores tubes of "grout caulk", that is for that, don't know if its a mixture of grout and caulk or just a different type of caulk specifically for this. Perhaps you guys can educate me, Thanks.
@@themonkeydrunken I wouldn't recommend caulking in a tile shower any where except around door frames. Mold always settles behind the caulking. Grouting and sealing is the way to go. If a crack ever develops just fill the crack with grout then seal.
@@jman1057 Mold is a symptom of poor caulking technique. Done correctly, there's no lip for material to collect and grow mold.
It's important to not use grout in corners because it will always crack, allowing water into the wall.
Very well done.
Followed your video with great results. Thanks!
Perfect ! From instruction to products 😊
Perfect example why you don’t grout the inside corners and use grout silicone.expansion + grouted corners =crack👍🏽
Haha, love the SpongeBob interjections!
I thought you had to use silicone for corners? Doesn’t it have to be ASTM C920 compliant?
To anyone seeing my comment: I highly recommend doing this when you’ve just bought a new house or had someone do a shower remodel. Sadly, most tile installers don’t bother doing this step (takes more of their time and effort) and you won’t think about it or realize it until you’re eventually trying to scrub dirty, moldy, hard-to-clean grout. Taking this step will also help avoid having to pull out disintegrating grout later on. Prevention is key! Plus, continuing to use a shower with disintegrating grout is a recipe for disaster as it allows water to get in behind the tiles, creating mold and potential water damage. Ask me how I know this!
Remember grout is porous and water will get through with out cracks present. The number one thing to prevent water is prepping the backer board and waterproofing it properly.
Okay this was awesome! I think I can actually do it myself!
Great video good sir
I’m definitely getting one of those tools for getting the old grout out . Ive been using ....regular tools 😂. Takes forever
I did an entire floor with a hammer and chisel. Took weeks.
Thank you for the video. I had the same problem and want to learn how to regrout.
tiling my bathroom right now, looking online I think you should have caulked the corners, polyblend makes the same colors as the grout they have. Due to expansion contraction, caulking wont crack in the corners.
sowtis I have used that product before in a rental I had. It didn’t look right. This is in a new construction home. Because the house was still settling I knew this would happen. My boss(the wife) wants me to redo the bathroom in the next five years so this was a good fix for what we have planned.
well thats not good..😢. I'm grouting tomorrow with polyblend. Remember what color it was that didnt match? I'm using delorean grey. hope it matches.
sowtis I have not had good results with the caulk, not sure if I did it correctly or what, but I may just be uses to using traditional grout. The sanded or unwanted type.
What did you end up using - grout or caulk? I saw you had a similar question on another video as well. I'm going back and forth myself what to do.
@@code3imagination441 How it looks is less important than whether it works -- keeping water out of the inside of the wall. Silicone caulk belongs in inside corners. Grout doesn't.
Great video! And it was even funny! I'm going to try this on my own. Thinking of using caulk in the corners. Wonder if you have a video for that 🤔
Millie Mi I know there is a specific call for just that. I have used it in a rental of mine several years ago. It’s a quick fix but in my option does not look as good as regular grout.
Just make sure to pick up the correct product for the job. I think it can be found by the tile/grout at you local big box home improvement center.
Millie Mi you're right. Caulk goes in inside corners because grout will always crack there eventually.
I think this caused boards to rot and termites in my walls. I think I will start to replace grout.
Nice video .. very useful
Thanks. LOL I was wondering how to do this with a float and thinking of using my hands as it is seems the best way for the corner, especially if you just have never grouted before like me and here you are using your hands!!! BTW I love Sponge Bob.
This was extremely helpful. I do have one question though. I only have one bath. What would be your suggestion if taking a shower in between the curing time is not an option?
@@pamelaemmett7961 that I don't know. I know there are fast drying grout but I have not used them. Keep in mind I am not a tile pro. I had that same situation when I renovated the bathroom of my first home. Only had one bathroom. I also work as a firefighter and my station was only two miles from the house. So I would recommend taking up a second career as a firefighter and use the station's shower. Lol.
Does the sealant ensure waterproofing? Why I ask is cuz my contractor installed my shower I know he put a plycem (waterproof type of panel) underneath the adhesive for the tiles then grout. I don’t believe he used a sealant and my shower is leaking. Needless to say my contractor has abandoned leaving me fd on more than just the shower so I’m tackling one project at a time,
hey I think this is a DR horton house right? my bathroom tiles and grout look the same. Do you know what color the grout is?
Great vid! Is it a good idea to use a shower-type silicon caulk instead of grout? Thanks!
Geoff Rey I have used that in a rental I once had. It work, but I did not like how it looked.
@@code3imagination441 Thank you. I had exactly the same question.
Great video! Why did you spray the area with water and bleach first?
I did clean the area first. Don’t want mildew or mold to get behind the new grout you are going to put in.
Thanks so much!
good stuff.
Great directions, thank you for sharing. Would this be good to use on the part where the tile meets the bathtub? Mine is cracked and I wasn't sure if I should regrout it or use sanded caulk.
Use 100% silicone caulk where tile meets bathtub so it will flex better when there is weight changes. It’ll crack if using grout.
Good video. Just finished my own. Good as new. Thanks.
It has been a little over a year. Did you notice any crack in the new grout? From what I heard, the grout tends to crack where the walls meet.
Tin Man that it does. I do have a crack but not in my repaired areas. The building company or should I say who ever they hired to do my tile did a horrible job. I am planning on retiring this shower in the near future. Now I have done a lot of DIY tile jobs in my previous home and rentals. When done correctly and then house has settled you can refuse the amount of cracks in the grout.
@@code3imagination441 did your repairs crack? It has been three years now!!!!
Good video. I'm definitely not an expert by any means, so take this with a grain of salt - do your own research - but from what I've found online, it's incredibly common for grout to crack in the corners. Just due to house settling/shifting. So a lot of people fix a grout issue like this on a corner, only for it to come right back within a year. So you may want to add a layer of bathroom caulking on top for the corners to provide some flexibility for that shifting. Just a thought. Again, do your own research. Thanks for the video!
That they do. This was a new build, I did not do it or would have done a better tile job, and I waisted a few years before repairing it. The tile job here was piss poor at best. If done properly the cracking would have been only minor. Since the repair no cracks, but soon I am remodeling the bathroom. Remember grout is not a waterproof barrier. You can get a sanded call made for showers. Sometimes the big box stores do not sell it and may have to go to a tile shop
@@code3imagination441 Yeah that makes sense. As you can imagine I'm here on this video because I'm going to be doing similar repairs to our shower tiles. Except ours is a bit worse lol. I've got a bit of work to do
When you used the tile sponge to remove the haze was it dry, damp or wet?
Damp. Completely soak the sponge in clean water and squeeze out the sponge. The key is the clean water. I use two buckets when doing this process. One bucket to rinse the sponge(change this water frequently) then soak and squeeze out the sponge in the clean water in the second bucket. You could use one bucket but you have to change the water more frequently.
Don't we need the flexibility of caulk in the corners instead of grout?
How is that sealer holding up 👉🏻
It’s holding up. But keep in mind grout is not waterproof. Your waterproofing comes from your sealed backer board and properly sealed joints.
Hi Jim, can you please recommend a good power tool and attachment for safely removing grout from thin grout lines?
Should use caulk instead of grout in corners
Someone’s a spongebob fan. Thanks for the video.
J T My kids loved that show and I thought the transitions fit well in this video.
That's the difference between American and UK standards, Americans grout corners and in the UK we use silicon because of expansion
Ya I don’t know. I think it is just a traditional thing. I have seen the the grout caulk that is make to match your grout. I think the silicon would be better but the look is not as pleasant to the eye.
@@code3imagination441 you can get silicone to match the grout colour
what is the color for grout?
Do I have to take out all the grout? Would I be able to just patch it if it’s a small crack?
As far as I know, yes. I may be wrong but what I have read on this is if you leave the old grout and try to fill in the cracked line it will crack again.
Have you ever dealt with a case like this where there was drain fly larvae infesting the cracked grout, and if so, did the 50/50 bleach solution still work or did you have to use something stronger for that?
I have not had that happen.
@@code3imagination441 ah, okay.
Thanks for replying so quickly, though.
Ew
I think you should use silicone instead of caulk on shower corners or the caulk will crack at the corners over time.
What Polyblend color did you used?
Rodrigo Saran I don’t remember the color name I took a piece of the removed grout into the store with me and matched it up the best I could.
Code 3 Imagination Thanks
Let's go Red Wings
How did you know what color grout to get ?
I took a piece I scraped out and matched it the best I could to what they had at the big orange hardware store.
That was good advice, until I saw the Wings hoodie. Now I question everything 😁.
Awe man, now that hurts. Even though we cam in dead last this year......dumb COVID pandemic......overall we had a decent team. At least in the ‘90s we did.
Grout is a NO NO for corners!! Should've used sanded silicone caulk for this!!
Great instructions. Thanks. too bad you are a Red Wings fan lol.
Gary Geiger I know. Can’t fix that. We had some good years though.
perfect video for my exact same issue - I appreciate it greatly. However, do any of the power tools, the Dremel for example, fit into corners?
Daniel Zahirniak I do bit at the time was to lazy to get it out and try. I figured I could use the hand tool. If I had to do this again I would use a power tool.
Code 3 Imagination I also have the same question. I’m having difficulty removing the grout where the walls meet each other, and where the walls meet the floor (stall shower with tiled floor).
My multi-tool can’t get at the angle to remove the grout. Does anyone have suggestion for how I could use my multi-tool successfully? Perhaps some sort of angle attachment/accessory? I can’t seem to find anything.
Maybe get the hand tool to get all the grout our. Not sure what else you can do. I do know if you don’t get the old cracked grout out it will crack in the same spot again.
Corners are supposed to be grout "caulk". Color matched.
Yep! Caulk in inside corners, never grout.
How do you color match?
@@dfwlivingre572 in the tile grout supplies are grout caulks that match.
"one eternity later" had me cracking up... aint it the truth
100% silicone! Was I right?
Polyblend® Sanded Grout is a dry, Portland cement based grout with silica sand, inorganic aggregates and chemicals.
@@code3imagination441 "Portland" is a proven inferior copy of Roman hydraulic cement used in Roman concrete and Roman brick mortar. Check "Portland" failure rate vs 100% silicone. Silicone can also be sanded and color matched
@@dare2scheme904 I have no idea. This product what the only thing I could find is a small quantity. I will keep that in mind if I have to ever do this again.
@@code3imagination441 Indeed if you research Roman cement you will find it is observed to resist cracking and many cement structures have retained their integrity. *Concrete is cement mixed with aggregate* there is no Roman concrete which does not contain cement and the term cement itself is Latin in origin so the "Portland Cement" guy consciously filed a patent for something already known and in existence for over 1000 years.
Never add grout to cracks? Y not? Is it a must to take all grout out before adding new?
Reef Cloud from what I read and been told if you grout over the cracks it just crack again.
Probably because the grout won't penetrate the crack deeply enough to be strong enough of a fix. If you're able to open up the crack enough to stuff grout in, have at it. Or just use a grout caulk so you don't have to worry about doing this laborious task again.
I dont care what is official protocol, caulked corners look terrible.It really sticks out on a finished job and the way the other grout lines butt into the caulk never looks right.
Studio Cottage my thoughts exactly
Use a color matched grout caulk?
3day project...ughh 😩
One eternity later...
SpongeBob is the best!
SpongeBob is awesome.
This grout doesn't last very long at all. I would never use it again.
My house was newly constructed home. After the house settled that’s where we noticed the cracks. Also the contractor did a crappy tile job. Once I repaired the cracks I have not had an issue. The plan is to replace the tile this summer and redo the bathroom.
Who grouts corners? This will crack in no time🤷♂️🤦♂️
You don’t put grout in the corners.!!!You do silicone.