Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Grout
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09-21-00, 08:12 PM
Just moved to a house that has lots of ceramic floors and so has LOTS of grout! Questions...
First the homeowner left a lot of those plastic spacers in...can I dig them up and patch the grout? Or just skimcoat over them?
Secondly is it possible to put a new layer of grout on top of the old or dones one have to dig out all the old first? I was considering changing some the grout color.
Last, some of the spaces for grout next to the walls are over 1/2 " and has chipped away pretty badly...did he mix it wrong or is there a special grout for large cracks?
Thanks for any and all help ( I need it!)
First the homeowner left a lot of those plastic spacers in...can I dig them up and patch the grout? Or just skimcoat over them?
Secondly is it possible to put a new layer of grout on top of the old or dones one have to dig out all the old first? I was considering changing some the grout color.
Last, some of the spaces for grout next to the walls are over 1/2 " and has chipped away pretty badly...did he mix it wrong or is there a special grout for large cracks?
Thanks for any and all help ( I need it!)
09-21-00, 08:52 PM
Bower:
I've tiled the walls in 23 bathrooms, but I have yet to tile a floor, so take what I say with the caution that I've only got related experience.
I'm concerned that from what you're saying, this was the previous owner's first tile job. I always use two spacers between every tile and it's neighbors, but I stick only ONE arm of each spacer in between the tiles, so I can pull them out easily after the tile thin set has dried (but before grouting).
For wall tiles, you have to remove the grout to at least 1/8 inch of depth for the new grout to stick, so I expect you have a similar thing with sanded floor tile grout. That nixes the "skim over" and "change colour" game plans unless you want to start grinding the old grout out, and it would probably be easier to tear everything out and start over.
I expect the grout cracking near the edge of one wall may be due to movement of the house due to frost heave. I can think of no other reason why that grout would be cracking along only one wall, even if it is 1/2 inch wide.
Just moved to a house that has lots of ceramic floors and so has LOTS of grout! Questions...
First the homeowner left a lot of those plastic spacers in...can I dig them up and patch the grout? Or just skimcoat over them?
Secondly is it possible to put a new layer of grout on top of the old or dones one have to dig out all the old first? I was considering changing some the grout color.
Last, some of the spaces for grout next to the walls are over 1/2 " and has chipped away pretty badly...did he mix it wrong or is there a special grout for large cracks?
Thanks for any and all help ( I need it!)[/QUOTE]
I've tiled the walls in 23 bathrooms, but I have yet to tile a floor, so take what I say with the caution that I've only got related experience.
I'm concerned that from what you're saying, this was the previous owner's first tile job. I always use two spacers between every tile and it's neighbors, but I stick only ONE arm of each spacer in between the tiles, so I can pull them out easily after the tile thin set has dried (but before grouting).
For wall tiles, you have to remove the grout to at least 1/8 inch of depth for the new grout to stick, so I expect you have a similar thing with sanded floor tile grout. That nixes the "skim over" and "change colour" game plans unless you want to start grinding the old grout out, and it would probably be easier to tear everything out and start over.
I expect the grout cracking near the edge of one wall may be due to movement of the house due to frost heave. I can think of no other reason why that grout would be cracking along only one wall, even if it is 1/2 inch wide.
Just moved to a house that has lots of ceramic floors and so has LOTS of grout! Questions...
First the homeowner left a lot of those plastic spacers in...can I dig them up and patch the grout? Or just skimcoat over them?
Secondly is it possible to put a new layer of grout on top of the old or dones one have to dig out all the old first? I was considering changing some the grout color.
Last, some of the spaces for grout next to the walls are over 1/2 " and has chipped away pretty badly...did he mix it wrong or is there a special grout for large cracks?
Thanks for any and all help ( I need it!)[/QUOTE]