question to the All knowing general forum fellas
My friend is building a house and I went over to help grout one of his showers this morning. He was grouting and I was cleaning behind him with wet sponges. While in the process the city turned off the water due to what we just found out was a water main repair. Anyway, we still have no water to his place and the excessive grout has dried.
Do any of you have any ideas or shortcuts to help get this cleaned off short of using a grinder.. ( I kid.... not really) This is probably going to be a big pain and I feel sorry for him, seems like this is his luck. He went to google, I went to my friends here. TIA
-
you will have to scrape , chisel, and pick at it with a plastic putty knife . you might try a razor scraper on a extra piece of tile and see how the tile reacts. if it is just the fog the grout left on the tile you can spray wd40 on it and wipe it away . good luck
3 -
I'm assuming it was cement based grout and not a urethane or epoxy?
Get yourself to the store and buy as many gallon jugs of water as you can get your hands on and get back there and get to scrubbin'! The dark green scrub pads cab be a big help when the grout gets dry.
If it was an epoxy grout then a heat gun will soften it up so you can get it off the surface. You'll still need some water and add a little white vinegar to it (1-10). The acid in the vinegar will help break down the grout residue.
While you're at the store pick up a 5 gallon bucket of elbow grease. You're gonna need it!
Good luck!
18 -
scrub it with muriatic acid solution.
3 -
Car waxer/buffer with coarse Scotch Brite pad. A diluted muriaic acid (as per bullshot) ... no acid ? Try Vinegar
0 -
OK, somebody had to say this...
Should have gone out, bought a case of beer & then scrubbed the piss out of it.
12 -
If there was no water, there should have been no grouting going on.
3 -
Maybe coulda used water from toilet and toilet tanks!
3 -
Toolman286: 30465996274203/comments/30466010924443
OK, somebody had to say this...
Should have gone out, bought a case of beer & then scrubbed the piss out of it.
😅🍺
0 -
NeoBlackdog: 30465996274203/comments/30465996407963
I'm assuming it was cement based grout and not a urethane or epoxy?
Get yourself to the store and buy as many gallon jugs of water as you can get your hands on and get back there and get to scrubbin'! The dark green scrub pads cab be a big help when the grout gets dry.
If it was an epoxy grout then a heat gun will soften it up so you can get it off the surface. You'll still need some water and add a little white vinegar to it (1-10). The acid in the vinegar will help break down the grout residue.
While you're at the store pick up a 5 gallon bucket of elbow grease. You're gonna need it!
Good luck!
It was cement based. We're going to try sulfamic acid but the grout manufacturer recommends to wait 10 days before trying it
0 -
Merlinnv12: 30465996274203/comments/30466016728091
Maybe coulda used water from toilet and toilet tanks!
toilets and sinks aren't installed yet. only water available was at the main spicket till all plumbing was done.
0 -
CRD, be VERY, VERY, VERY careful with those acids, especially in a confined space like a shower. I've used muriatic, as bullshot recommended, but it was in a wide open area and it still almost knocked me on my butt from the fumes.
Rubber gloves, eye protection, etc. is mandatory. If you can, figure out a way to pump fresh air into the space you're working in. Those acid fumes will eat your lungs up.
3 -
Depending on the quality/price of the tile, this may be a case where it is simply easier and might end up being cheaper to just take it back to the concrete backer board and start over rather than buying the chemicals, any tools, and equipment. Not to mention having to breathe all that stuff.
I will say that I was down on my back for nearly 2 years and during that time we had one of our showers done. They did OK, but they left too much grout at the top edges of the seam. In other words, none on the flat of the tile, and the seam itself was clean, but the rounded transition had clumps of it on there. Once I was feeling better, I spent weeks in there a little every evening with the green pads, and my Dremel with plastic bristled rotary brush cleaning it off.
0 -
What kind of tile?
0 -
Well, how'd it go?
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
14 comments