Major goof in shower project-Help!

[Jay H]

I accidentally let the grout on porcelain tile get hard on about 50% of the shower when grouting. I let the grout sit for way too long before I realized that it was hardening quickly. I managed to sponge about 50% of tub, mostly the front wall where the pumbing is and above the decorative line I made.

Is there anything I can do to remove the hard grout from the porcelain tile? I managed to get a bunch off with just brute force, with a towel and a nylon scouring pad but no way I was going to be able to do all of it cause it was such a slow process and I'm beat.

Not sure what to do now. I was going at it with a small putty knife, but was wondering if I could use a wire brush. I tried a carbide brush and my dremel tool but it looked like it was marring the surface at the slowest speed. The nylon scouring pad isn't too effective on the dried grout..

PS. I read that I can use Muriatic Acid in a 4 part water: 1 part acid with rubber gloves, a mask and eye protection to soak the tiles... is this true??

Jay

 

[LLigetfa]

Is it latex modified? Some muriatic acid may help remove it. Start with a weak mixture and add more as needed.

 

[Jay H]

Is it latex modified? Some muriatic acid may help remove it. Start with a weak mixture and add more as needed.

Laticrete 1600 unsanded grout with the 1776 (microban stuff) used in place of water...

Jay

 

['bert]

We use the muriatic acid to dissolve concrete that gets into our electrical conduits during construction. Works for that. What is the tile on, if it's on concrete board it may dissolve that too

 

[Jay H]

The tile is on a waterproof cement on Densarmore PLus fiberglass sheetrock. The grooves are grouted, and I am aware that the acid may weaken the grout, but I can always reapply that. I doubt the acid will get to the sheetrock.

However, I am aware that Muriatic acid is bad for metal. What is Vikrell? That is the stuff my Kohler tub is made out of, do I have to worry about that? I think that is some kind of composite, as it's fairly light.

Jay

 

[Cutter]

Fiberglass sanding screen may gice you some joy. It is still going to take some elbow grease. Lay some wet towels over it to keep it damp until you are done. You will have to use some acid to remove the haze when your done, but go easy on the stuff.

 

[Jay H]

I think I'm going to try the Sulfamic Acid powder first, before the Muriatic stuff.... since this is new grout, I don't think I need as harsh or as strong an acid as the Muriatic and I've read that the Vikrell acrylic is not acid-resistant so I'll have to lay a tarp down on that...

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Tried out the Sulfamic acid in somewhat of a moderate solution, seemed to work well, in combination with a metal putty knife (carefully) and the use of a stiff nylon grout brush, I was able to get a lot of the grout off the tiles I did. I will go and try a slightly stronger concentration today and work on more tiles... but I am very relieved that I have a solution!

Jay

 

[John_M]

Jay,
My current PITA project is removing some cracked grout from tile in the corners of a shower. This job is a REAL pain in the butt. The one tool I keep returning to is my old and trusty Hyde 5-way painter's tool. This is a combination scrapper, putty and caulk remover, tab cutter for 5 gallon sheetrock compound cans, paint can opener and paint roller cleaner. The scraper part of this tool is thin, sharp, strong, and easy to resharpen. It does an excellent job removing dried grout from tile without scratching or otherwise blemishing the tile. The putty remover point facilitates scraping in corners.

I have tried other brands of this kind of tool, some of which are made in America and elsewhere, but for my use the Hyde brand is the original (I believe) and still the best.

Good luck!

John_M

 

[Jay H]

Cool, Did about 15 more tiles last night before I stopped to watch the Giro d'Italia. I should have the tiles done by next week. I don't think I'm going to get all the grout off but at least I'll get that ugly white haze that dry grout looks like and quite frankly, the dark splotchs of grout when wet kind of looks cool. But right now there is too much to look nice and I can slowly work on the thing after I get the shower door on so I'm in no rush.
I'm going to look into a stiff nylon brush power tool for perhaps the tougher spots (the little holes that I can't get the scraper in. I'll have to check out that Hyde painter's tool though, thanks for the rec.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Some photos I took this afternoon:

(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslugyahoo/Projects#)

ignore the first 4 or 5 photos of my carport I built for my splitter, the two shots at the end are fairly recent. That black line is a short 2" black marble threshold that I am using as a shelf for shampoo, soap, etc. I haven't put the hot/cold faucets on and I'm waiting for the tub spout from Moen, but shortly, the shower door goes on!

Jay

 

[Gooserider]

Looks nice so far... Is that shelf just sticking out, or is it a ledge with a "step" in the wall under it? Hard to tell from the pictures as they don't show much depth...

Gooserider

 

[Jay H]

The shelf is mounted on top of some framing and shims that I built with 2x4s and framed with Densarmor. When I layed out the tub, I forgot to line up the tub spout to the centerline so I had to move the tub out from the backwall about 2 inches. So instead of just framing it level to the top of the tub, I thought I'd build a step with the black marble on top. So it sticks out about 2.5 inches from the wall, perfect for shampoo, etc. etc.

Jay

 

[Gooserider]

The shelf is mounted on top of some framing and shims that I built with 2x4s and framed with Densarmor. When I layed out the tub, I forgot to line up the tub spout to the centerline so I had to move the tub out from the backwall about 2 inches. So instead of just framing it level to the top of the tub, I thought I'd build a step with the black marble on top. So it sticks out about 2.5 inches from the wall, perfect for shampoo, etc. etc.

Jay

Definitely a good idea, and it looks great - just wasn't sure from the photos... However a shelf for all the adult "tub cruft" certainly is a useful thing to have.

Gooserider

 

[rowerwet]

would a pressure washer work?

 

[Jay H]

would a pressure washer work?

How fine a jet could one get with a pressure washer? Hmm, most of them seem to come with a wide spray which I would be careful with... Hmm, my sister has one but the only thing we've use it for is cleaning siding and patio concrete...

Jay

 

[johnn]

Sa Jay,, Could you tell me more about the window casing around the window? Did you tile these ledges and caulk along the window, or was another material used to waterproof with?

 

[Jay H]

ml: Originally since I had those cheap prefab plastic shower walls that one mixes and matches, the window was framed with painted wood, that was sealed with some kind of clear silicone. I think something was used on top of the wood itself, however, when I took the molding off, there was signs of wood rot underneath the tiles that were in line with the shower spray...not much but it was there...

I used bullnose tile cut with my wet saw to match the pattern of the orginal molding and since they simply abut to the same kind of porcelain tile, grout in between.. I was told to use silicone between dislike materials due to differing expansion rates so I siliconed (GE Silicone II brand) the tile/tub junction and the tile/wall junction.



Jay