Old and Bad Grouting Job on tiles - repair ?

[Bluekiwi]

Okay the toilet walls are badly tiled.
The grout is really bumpy and eneven and looks bad.

Will it work if I just scrape off some of the eneven bits, and then just grout over the top of whats there, will only be a shallow depth.

Rather than scraping all the grout and replacing the existing grout, and potentially damaging tiles also.

Dont want to go to the expense of replacing the tiles, even though they are ugly, as will have to gut whole toilet room as gib will come off walls as well.

[TheLiberalLeft]

Nope. You should dig out as much of the grout as you can. Scraping off just the uneven bits is Mickey Mouse.

[Bluekiwi]

Its already such a dodgy job there is quite a depth in the crack already, you cant have 2 layers of grout, one to hold the tiles in and one above that for cosmetic purposes ?

[Bob Kane]

Grout doesn't hold the tiles in (as far as I know!). The glue on the tiles holds the tiles in.
Just scrape off the loose grout and re-grout with the same colour.
If it's too shallow then it will fall out - just scrape a bit lower and re-grout.
Hey, it's your labour and money, you can do a job twice.

[jimO]

get a cheap multi tool from Bunnings or Mitre 10 use the grout remover attachment, if the tiles are fugly anyway you can tile over existing tiles with the right adhesive (which you wont get from Bunnings or Mitre 10) as long as they are well stuck

[Wayne]

get a cheap multi tool from Bunnings or Mitre 10 use the grout remover attachment, if the tiles are fugly anyway you can tile over existing tiles with the right adhesive (which you wont get from Bunnings or Mitre 10) as long as they are well stuck

was going to be my suggestion (multi-tool). Tiling over existing would create a few issues with door and window architraves I would think.

[donna]

and you could put a seal over the grout so water, dirt etc isn't absorbed into it. I've been learning about grout as we've just had our bathroom done and now we're onto the Kitchen floor. Grout is porous and if it's not sealed it will take in the water and of course stain too like dipping chalk into coloured water.

cheers,

Donna

[jimO]

sealed grout isnt waterproof, its better than non sealed grout but its not waterproof

[Wayne]

You could paint the whole lot - there are paints for this that, supposedly, stick well. Solve the ugly factor also.

[donna]

We've just used GroutPro - Colour seal - with a 15 year warrantee

[jimO]

We've just used GroutPro - Colour seal - with a 15 year warrantee

thats different to using a normal grout sealer, i would like to see how it lasts 15 years

[w44vi]

I don't have any experience with grout pro, but i expect it is an epoxy grout colorant, they are should last quite well, there are quite a number of similar products on the market

[Bluekiwi]

Ended up just sanding it down, rolling up a bit of sand paper that could fit in the grooves, evening out all the lumps and bumps, and using some grout paint where needed.
Couldnt fix all, but its looks a lot les shoddy.