John01XX Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 My foreclosure purchase has some pretty nice ceramic tile down everywhere in the living, dining room and Kitchen area. 18" x 18" The grout is nasty looking. Was originally beige and now is black in some spots and dirty brown in others. I had "ServiceMaster' come in and professionally clean the grout with a high alkaline chemical and follow up with a pressure sprayer but did not cut it. It looks better but still nasty. I have hand scrubbed it with another very high alkaline solution I got from my work chemical suppiler but still will not get through the stains that have penetrated the grout. I was told by a friend and tile setter that I would have to grind out the old grout and refloat new grout in place. Very messy and time consuming. The only other option that was tabled was to stain all of the the existing grout with a dark brown stain. Does anyone know of the easiest way to grind out old grout ? What tool works best etc. ? In your infinite wisdom has anyone any suggestions or solutions minus replacing all the Tile completely ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biometrix Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 John, if you have grind out the old grout (which it sounds like you do). Go to Home Depot and buy a Roto-Zip tool which costs around $80. I had to do this for some bathroom tiles that didn't stick properly. It's still a messy job but the Roto-Zip worked well and I was able to reuse all the tile with no damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMig Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I used a similar attachment to a Dremel - and it worked very well. Careful, it will grind tile as well, but be sure to wear hearing and eye protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Just spoke with my chemical guy for work and I am going to try alittle acid tonight and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Just spoke with my chemical guy for work and I am going to try alittle acid tonight and see what happens John, In the kitchens of my hotels the grout gets really greasy, stained, and pretty fucked up. 1 time per year we rent one of those super duper high power steamers. The steam get's like FO million degrees with a very fine blast of steam. BOOM....as white as snow. The we re-seal it. You may want to look into that. You shouldn't need to re-grout. As a last ditch effort...bleach it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 No Luck with acid or alkaline chemicals except I now have a small 1/2" wide strip alongside one 18" tile from the acid eching ! The acid will eat the tile up but not the nasty grout. Bought a grout saw from Harbor Freight and got about 6 tiles done and they look great BUT.................. you talk about labor intensive !!!!! Hand sawing the top 1/8" of grout out is major chore. Got 6 done and only about 100 more to do. Pictures to follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat830 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 If you were closer, I'd come over to help, drink a little beer, mess with power tools, chop fingers off, good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 26, 2008 Author Share Posted December 26, 2008 Bought two grout saws from Harbour Freight but ......No fun to use and a very slow process ! So took up Daves suggestion today and rented a commercial high pressure dry steam blaster machine. Gonna give it a try this evening. At $75.00 a day rental I have to return it by 1:00 tomorrow We will see how well it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Bought two grout saws from Harbour Freight but ......No fun to use and a very slow process ! So took up Daves suggestion today and rented a commercial high pressure dry steam blaster machine. Gonna give it a try this evening. At $75.00 a day rental I have to return it by 1:00 tomorrow We will see how well it works That's what we use bro....I hope it works. We use it all the time and it works on the worst hotel grout you have EVER seen. If it doesn't work.....you have alien grout. The steamer we use has a little wire circular brush that the steam comes out of. Hopefully you have something like that. Let me know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVLXX Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 This will be interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 So far it is getting alo better but still does not come up white as it should. I was up till 0100 and back at it again this morning at 0600 and now waiting to heat up again as I ran out of water. the problem is that the previous owners put down hundreds of coats of floor wax on top of dirt and filth. The ceramic tile is a nice textured beige marbled tile that comes up nice and clean but the grout is full of dirt and wax. Looks like I will be applying dye next week and changing the color from beige to medium chocolate brown grout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVLXX Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 I wish you had pics. Then we could all understand the true nature of your delema. .. Either way... good luck on your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 Yea i should have taken some before shots but got the steam jenny right after work and have to have it returned by 1:00 today so have been real busy trying to get done in time to avoid another $75.00 charge. I am almost done now. again waiting to reheat after my 4th refill of water. Should be my last time. My knee's are killing me now but the tile sure looks alot better. It may not be commpletely clean but it is completely sanitized ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVLXX Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Niice..... So you do work on your Knee's.... Nice.... ... OK, just kidding, I'm glad to hear it's working, my parents have a lot of tile, that could use some help, and maybe this is the best way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 I am glad it worked out John. Well, best idea so far. You owe me a pretzel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 It seems that some of my best work is done on my knee's !! I am glad it worked out also, Dave, thanks for the tip. A pretzel ? Just One ? Now to do some painting before all the furniture gets moved back! Always something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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