Is It Time To Regrout The Tile On Your Shower, Bath Tub-surround Or Walls?

Are your grout and caulk growing mold, discolored or worse yet cracking and falling out? It might be that regrouting and recaulking, something that can be done in just a day, is exactly what you need! 

Many people don't realize that re-grouting and recaulking their shower, bath tub-surround, bathroom walls, and granite or marble floors can make them look like new again. If you think about it though, tile doesn't usually lose its beauty, only grout and caulk do. If you have been planning on getting the new tile in your shower or bathtub surround thinking that it was the only way to remedy ugly grout you will be very pleasantly surprised to learn that most tile in showers, tub surrounds and on walls can be easily regrouted!

The process to remove the old grout and caulk and replace it with clean, fresh, new grout and caulk is fairly easy, relatively clean, can be done in a day and the results are amazing! You will think the tile was just installed new, all for about 20% of the cost of a new shower, bathtub surround, walls or floor.

Beyond being ugly, there can be serious consequences to grout that is cracked and falling out. This cracked or broken grout easily allows water to leak through. As it leaks into your porous backer material it gets to your studs and causes them to get waterlogged, grow mold and mildew and eventually begin to rot. When that happens there is no longer any support left for the tile and the only way to fix the shower or tub surround is to rip it out and rebuild it from scratch. Needless to this can be quite costly.

In addition to this, when backing material and studs are completely saturated with water, leaks develop as there is nowhere else for the water to go.

By the time this happens, mold and mildew, that love wet places, are bound to have grown. This leads not only to foul odors but is damaging to your health too.

Worse yet, with time, this usually leads to extensive and expensive wall work too before you can install new tile and grout in your shower or bathtub surround. 

It sounds a bit like a horror story but this is what actually happens. We see it on a weekly basis!

If you are having any type of problems with your grout or your shower leaking why not call us and we will come by and help you figure out what the problem is and the best way to fix it.

Grout Care And Maintenance

Three days after the regrouting of your shower or tub surround is done and the grout has cured it is a good practice to apply a high quality, clear, grout sealer. This will help to maintain the grout in good condition. Unfortunately, there is nothing that has been invented yet that permanently protects grout from staining and discoloring so, eventually, it is good maintenance to regrout the shower or bathtub surround again.

All wall tiles, whether marble, granite, ceramic, porcelain, glass, metal, slate, travertine, limestone, sandstone, onyx or any other type of stone can be regrouted with good results.

Marble, Granite And Many Other Stone Floors Can Also Be Regrouted

Stone floor tiles, such as marble and granite are almost always installed with very thin grout joints so therefore unsanded grout must be used. This means that it is also possible to do regrouting of these floor tiles too. As with the regrouting of tiles on walls floor tiles when regrouted also look virtually new! Like showers, tub surrounds and walls, floors can be sealed with a clear sealer to help protect them and keep them easier to clean.

Tile and Grout Cleaning

For grout on floors, installed with sanded grout, a double (mild acid and alkaline) deep machine cleaning goes a long way toward restoring the beauty of your grout and tile. This can help you avoid replacement for a long time!

Grout Color Sealing Or Staining

When deep cleaning doesn't yield the desired results on floors with sanded grout, regrouting is not an option either. If the tile is relatively smooth color sealing or color staining the grout is probably possible. The result is as good as if the regrouting of the tile was done; it looks new!

Repair Showers, Bathtubs And Grout

While it is not always possible, many times, your bathtubs and showers can be repaired. This along with a regrouting and recaulking can save you a lot of money. Why not call us to save money on replacement of showers and tub surrounds, by regrouting and/or recaulking?