Flooring Tile - repairing tile shower

we just bought a house with a all tile shower in the masterbath...it has white tile floor, walls, and ceiling...the house is about 25 years old...i am assuming the tile shower and bathroom has been there for the entire age of the house...

the previous owner used some kind of tile grout that comes in a bottle similiar to the old shoe polish bottles...he covered up a lot of cracks and discolorization within the grout lines...

now the floor of the shower after using it for 1 month has really dark grout lines on most of the floor...however, there is about 1/4 of the floor with pure white grout lines...i have cleaned the shower several times to remove the dark grout lines, but no better...

also, the first row of tile from the floor has some cracks in the grout lines...i am concerned that the water from the shower will go behind the tile and to the subfloor and cause rotting...what should i do with the cracks???

one more question...my uncle told me i better seal the tile floor and grout lines to prevent water from soaking through the grout and rotting the floor...is this something that can actually happen with tile showers???

thanks...michael

Your uncle is right, it will seep through and rot the floor ... in fact if its 25 years old ... Start saving now or get a loan or sell the house. Sorry its just that I've been down this path... And it is very likely that there is unseen rot. Water will get into the smallest hairline cracks.
If you plan on living in the house for a long time do the proper repair and tear it out and start from scratch.
REDDOG:rolleyes:

you mean to tear out the eniter shower or can i just tear out the floor, replace the subfloor, then retile the floor only???

also, what is the sealant called that i should use???

is this a do it yourself job or for the professionals???

if the grout is actually cracked, you have to regrout -- i don't believe just sealing it will take care of the problem.

if you go to home depot or lowes or one of those stores, you can just pick up grout sealer. DEFINITELY put that on at least once after regrouting.

another option is to totally paint over the tiles in the shower. my parents had that done (not exactly cheap!), and it REALLY looks great!!

If the grout is cracked or cracking you have to ask yourself "WHY?" . Are the tiles loose or even the slightest bit wiggly? Grout does not crack all by itself. It will crack if the tiles move, even if you don't notice, if they were installed over wood. THe wood will flex as you walk on it, as it flexes it cracks the grout. Unattended cracks drink up the water and deposits it on the unprotected wood. The wood rots and gets weaker thus allowing the floor to flex even more and so on. The grout will change color if it becomes saturated with water. Attempting to clean it will only put more water on it. The areas that don't change color must have the remnants of sealer on it. good sealers are available at Home Depot or the like. Name brand that comes to mind is TILELAB. Even if the tiles were done properly, over a bed of cement, if they weren't sealed, they would suck in moisture. Regrouting feels cheaper and might make you feel better in the short term but if you've got any rot under the shower it WILL come back to haunt you. I hate to be the Harbinger of doom (I'm usually fairly cheary) but you should look closely at tile and grout damage. Try http://www.johnbridge.com/
He does things the old school way. Also he has a forum http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php Try there, he may be able to refer you to a qualified individual who can at least inspect it for you. I am really only trying to help, not trying to scare you. If you plan to live there, repair it properly.

REDDOG:(

visit the site above and you'll find all the information you need to tackle this job......

If you have grout failure, you have underlayment as well as "underlying" issues because of moisture penetration. The tile installation appears to have failed. The whitener you have been using to keep the grout lines bright is a form of denial and does not resolve underlying issues. It is time to remove the tile and replace it with the recommended concrete underlayment and grout. Sealing grout with a penetrating sealer will also protect the grout and prevent deterioration of the installatin. Go to www.doityourself.com/ceramic to learn more about tile.