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this shower was not a normal job, the previous tradesmen didn’t know what they were doing when they tilled the bathroom, they didn’t even use waterproofing at all and the water was leaking from the shower and under the tiles and then into the bedroom carpet.
The last tenants tried to fix it by using silicone and it didn’t do anything but make it look worse then it already did, so I was hired to fix the bathrooms and re seal the shower. I advised the owner to remove the floor tiles and 200mm of the wall tiles and then waterproof the shower floor and wall correctly but the owner was already down on Money from the tenants damaging the entire unit and not paying the rent for 4 months.
So I did my best with what I had, there was a 36 mm gap between the wall tiles and the floor tiles which is really wrong and was very non professional, because I couldn’t redo the tiles I had to come up with a way to better seal the floor of the shower, so I decided to use epoxy grout, which is very expensive and hard to use and clean. Normal grout is really easy to clean and apply, so I created a new seal on the floor corners and around the floor tiles, the customer was not happy about this and said that I don’t know what I was doing, but after I showed him the 36mm gap he then he changed his tune lol, after that I learned it’s better to do 600mm squares of the epoxy grout at a time and then clean it off or it dries and stains the tiles and is really hard to clean up after, so after I finished the entire shower and cleaned the excess grout off the floor and walls I then started to seal the huge gap around the wall and corners, i said to the customer that I will put sikaflex on top of the epoxy grout for that extra layer of sealer and then I cleaned up the corners with a blade and made it as neat and clean edges as possible.
I was not happy with the finish of the job but its all I could do with The budget and what the customer wanted from the start. Plus the grout lines were not very well done by previous workers and I had to get the grout out of the lines all the way down to the glue level which in turn made the grout look a little bit of a gray colour instead of bright white like I originally ordered from Bunnings, the job took me two days of 12 hours of hard work getting the grout out and I went through about 10 grout multi tool utensils which cost $56 bucks each and if you use a grinder it’s a lot quicker but a lot more messier and you can sometimes get a nick from the tiles and I was thinking of buying a smaller type of grinder but I only do two showers a quarter so didn’t think it was worth the cost, if anyone can give me a tip or two I would appreciate it and what’s the best tools to get grout out of the lines guys? I have another 4 more bathrooms lined up to do and I would like to do it the quickest most efficient and less expensive way please 🙏 thanks for your help and your time.
Ryan
Materials
Tools
Epoxy grout
multitool grout removal tools
sikaflex due to being a lot harder and more durable.
turps to remove the excess epoxy grout and remove the grout glue residue that can be left behind.
mineral methylated spirits to clean off the turpentine and any other chemicals off the tiles
multi tool
grout squeegee
10 sponges because the epoxy grout residue stays in the sponges and makes it difficult to clean up. Blades to remove residue and silicone and sikaflex
bucket and water
Steps
Step 1
1/91. Remove the grout.
Step 2
2/92. Clean up the grout mess and wipe down walls and floors.
Step 3
3/93. Mix up the epoxy grout to the instructions on back label.
Step 4
4/94. Take some epoxy grout out of main bucket and put it into another bucket and then seal the lid on main epoxy grout bucket.
Step 5
5/95. use a grout squeegee to apply the epoxy grout into the lines of the tiles on walls first, making sure you keep the bucket under your job to catch anything that falls out and on too the floor. Do 600mm squares at a time or you’ll be spending hours or days cleaning up the grout and the residue.
Step 6
6/96. After all the walls and floors have been done clean with a wet sponge, but buy about 10 sponges and you will thank me later.
Step 7
7/97. check for any residue or grout lines that may not have been applied correctly by the sponge wipes and then symptomatically go from top to bottom and finish the cleaning.
Step 8
8/98. let it set dry for two days and then use a blade scraper and gently remove the excess epoxy grout and residue and then I used shower sealer in a little silver can which was super easy and sealed the job nicely.
Step 9
9/99. Sit down on the porch and crack open a beer or a whiskey and coke. lol 😜
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Ryno24. It's fabulous to have you join us, and many thanks for sharing your project.
It certainly sounds like a complicated job; well done on finding a solution. Did you manage to take some images along the way or even of the finished job? I'm sure our members would be keen to see. Let me know if you need a hand uploading them.
What multi-tool attachment were you using? I'd typically recommend this Diablo 70mm Multi Function Tool Ultimate Grout And Mortar Blade, and for larger jobs, it would be an idea to water cool the blade. Depending on how deteriorated the grout is, you can sometimes get away with cutting it out with a carbide blade in a utility knife. If they are quite wide grout lines, you might also be able to use a score and snap knife, with a tungsten tip. Remember to wear appropriate PPE, including a face mask, safety glasses and cut-resistant gloves.
If the grout is in reasonable condition, you don't always have to take it right back. Instead, consider products designed to go over existing grouts like Davco Rejuvenation Grout. Obviously, this current job required epoxy due to the lack of waterproofing, but the rejuvenation grout might save you some time in the future.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
