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I have a few tiles whose grout lines have cracked, its in the line of fire from the showerhead so I'm pretty sure water is behind the wall to some degree. I want to redo the grout lines, but do I need to wait for the water behind the tile to dry first? If so, how long to wait, or how to accelerate the drying process?
just don't want to seal the moisture behind there and cause problems down the road.
If its just "a crack"- I would imagine there's only negligible amounts of water getting "behind the wall". Any "behind the tile" will disipate in a day.
You can either dig or file the grout out and re-do, or just use a silicone caulk that matches in color. But, if it is truly a "crack" just caulk it and be done.
The big difference is the material behind the tile- depending on the age of the house. Some were just regular d/wall, then there was "green board" d/wall, now it's Durarock or something like it. Seems we've come full circle with bath wall tiles in wet areas. Back-in-the-day, tile setters did mortar lath walls with a scratch coat and set tiles on that.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr
If its just "a crack"- I would imagine there's only negligible amounts of water getting "behind the wall". Any "behind the tile" will disipate in a day.
You can either dig or file the grout out and re-do, or just use a silicone caulk that matches in color. But, if it is truly a "crack" just caulk it and be done.
The big difference is the material behind the tile- depending on the age of the house. Some were just regular d/wall, then there was "green board" d/wall, now it's Durarock or something like it. Seems we've come full circle with bath wall tiles in wet areas. Back-in-the-day, tile setters did mortar lath walls with a scratch coat and set tiles on that.
I have been wondering the same thing. I have a older house (25+ yrs old) and have one shower stall with one area with cracked grout in it. I don't use it much but was thinking about what to do about it. Thxs for asking PNWG and thxs for answering KB
Speaking from experience you'd better deal with it yesterday. If you're house is newer you might be OK. But our older eighties house had no vapor barrier behind the cement board. Water seeped through and we ended up with termites in the studs attracted by the moisture. Had to gut it and renovate. Haveing to do both bathrooms.
If its recent they make a tool to rough up and clean the old grout. Then regrout and SEAL. Reseal regularly.
I've had good success with sanded caulk that closely matches the original grout. Just clean out any loose pieces out of the joint first and you should have a pretty solid repair.
I've had problems with the vertical, corner grout lines cracking. It appears like I'm replacing the grout every year. I'm debating whether i should just go over it with silicone caulk, but I've also had issues with that as well.
I've had problems with the vertical, corner grout lines cracking. It appears like I'm replacing the grout every year. I'm debating whether i should just go over it with silicone caulk, but I've also had issues with that as well.
Thanks. I have used denatured alcohol in the past, but I generally flush out debris with water afterwards and let it dry. I'll reverse the process.
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