How to Regrout a Ceramic Tile Shower

Is your ceramic tile shower dirty and moldy? Have you tried to clean your ceramic tile shower only to find that every product you used would not get rid of the rust and mold spots? If so, you may be a candidate for a re-grout. My article will show you step by step instructions on how to re-grout your ceramic tile shower and which tools we have found work the best.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Things You’ll Need:
• Scrub brush or abrasive pad
• Soap scum remover
• Water
• Old rag
• Grout getter or a grout saw
• Safety Glasses
• Grout
• Grout float
• Mixing tool
• Vacuum- wet vac
• Gloves
• Booties

1. 

   First, you will need a clean shower to work on. This is very important because it will help you so much when you get to Step 3, grouting. Put on your gloves and booties. The gloves will keep your skin free of chemicals and the booties will keep the floor of the shower from getting more dirt on it while you are cleaning it.
   Spray one half of one wall with a soap scum remover (we will call this SSR from here on out) of your choice, we like Tub and Tile Cleaner by Melaluca. This is the tricky part, keeping the SSR on the wall. Lightly, use the scrub brush or the abrasive pad in a circular and upward motion to keep the SSR from dripping down to the tile below. It is important to keep the SSR on the same area for 1-2 minutes in order for it to be effective. You may want to spray the area again just before you plan to really scrub, this will ensure that you get a good result. When that area is done start this process all over again in another area of the shower. Once you have thoroughly cleaned the shower allow it to dry for 30 min or so before you begin to re-grout.

2. Next, put on your safety glasses to prevent pieces of grout from getting into your eyes. Then, taking the tool of your choice, either a grout grabber (which we prefer) or a gout saw, put the tip of the tool onto the grout line and lightly move the tool up and down or side to side depending upon which direction you are starting with. This is a very time consuming and tedious process. Please do not try and go to fast because you WILL chip tiles especially at the corner areas where four tiles come together. After you go up and down a few times it may help to angle your tool (to the left and then to the right) just a bit to get any additional grout off the sides of the tile. PVG prefers the grout grabber because it has a lower risk of scratching the tiles. It’s tri-angle head stays inside the grout line better than the tile saw which is basically a glorified razor blade. Once all of the grout is out, or you are done working for the day, use your wet-dry vac to vacuum up all of the old grout that has fallen onto the floor.

3. 
   After regrout, grout is not fully dry which is why it doesn't look bright white

   Ah, the fun part… grouting. Everyone thinks this is the easiest part of the job but actually not everyone can do this. First you must decide which type of grout, sanded or non-sanded) you want to put in. A shower like the one shown in my pictures is non-sanded grout. Typically showers with 4” tile and smaller use non-sanded grout because the grout joints are so small they don’t allow for the large sand granules that are found in a sanded grout. I have occasionally seen non-sanded used with 6 and 8” tile as well.
   When mixing your grout it is important that you don’t put too much water in, this will ruin the bond in the grout and as a result your grout may be soft once it is in and dried. The consistency should be that of a brownie mix… sort of thick and creamy. After you have mixed your grout, use the grout float to scoop out some grout (roughly this would amount to about a third of the pad on the grout float) Smear the grout onto the wall of the shower in a sort of “S” pattern, so side to side but more squiggly. This will leave a lot of excess grout on the tops of your tiles. Go back to where you started putting the grout in and use the vertical tip (longer side) of the grout float in an “S” pattern or a downward then upward motion to pick up the excess grout off of the tiles. Moving in a downward will sometimes make the grout fall onto the floor (if this happens switch to the “S” pattern). You can either use that grout right away underneath the part you just put in or you can put it back in your grout bucket. Please note that you will do this after every “scoop” or two, of grout that you put in making clean up easier in the end. Once all the grout has been put in on ONE wall you will take your sponge and bucket of fresh water and begin wiping down. The sponge should be damp but not saturated. Begin by softly moving the sponge around in a circular motion being sure that you DO NOT PUSH DOWN on the sponge. This is very, very important because it will take the grout out and/or it will make the grout different heights. You will continually ring your sponge out and wipe down. This will take a long time. Once you are satisfied that the grout is even and the tiles are pretty much free of grout clumps you can move on to the next well for grouting and continue the grouting steps described above. Once all the grouting is finished start back at the first wall you cleaned and take a dry soft rag free of dirt and debris and wipe the grout haze off of the wall, again

Tips & Warnings

• When cleaning, it is important to keep the soap scum solution on the same area for 1-2 minutes in order for it to be effective.
• When taking grout out, use safety glasses and do not go fast you WILL chip or scratch tiles. In reality you will likely chip at least 3 but they will go unnoticed once the grout is in.
• When mixing the grout consistency is the key… think brownie mix.
• When cleaning up after grouting, do not push down on the sponge at any time to pick up grout that is on the tiles. This will leave your grout uneven.
• Open a window, or turn on the bathroom fan when doing the final wipe down of the shower (with the dry rag).
• Please note that it is not recomended to re-grout 1" tiles. The tip of the tool will usually not fit in the grout line. The only thing that can be done in this instance is a thorough cleaning with an acid based product (NEVER USE ACID ON NATURAL STONE).
• Make sure you know they type of grout you want to put in (Sanded Vs. Non-sanded).
• The tip of the grouting tool is carbide steel and there is a definite possibility that tiles will likely be chipped so expect it.
• Open a window, door, or vent when cleaning the shower. It is such an enclosed space that the chemicals used to clean your shower could make you sick. You can also go to your local home store and purchase a gas mask or ventilated mask. (I think it’s in the paint isle).