Removing tile grout

[ryoc]

Some of the tile grout in my recently tiled shower has cracked, possibly due to slight movement in the new wall. Is there any way I can remove this for replacement? It looks really bad.. The grout seems to be rock hard!
Thanks

 

[Diyisfun]

You will have to scrape it out, you can buy a scraper, in most diy stores. I was trying to find a link but failed.

 

[gcol]

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/sea...rset=UTF-8&howMany=5&searchText=grout+remover

 

[Diyisfun]

GCOL, Does this have a serated blade? cant tell from this picture. I have one at home with serated blade thats what I was looking for.

 

[ryoc]

Thanks for the advice. I was trying to avoid the scraping out option as the tile grout is as hard as a bullet. I was hoping for a 'magic grout remover'. I have a grout scraper that hardly touches it. I guess an option is to remove the tiles and start again (please don't make me do it!).
Cheers - Paul

 

[gcol]

GCOL, Does this have a serated blade? cant tell from this picture. I have one at home with serated blade thats what I was looking for.

I can't say for certain, but I have what looks like the same tool bought from a local builders merchant that has both grit and serrated blades fitted and you basically remove the one you don't want to use.

 

[ryoc]

Thanks again..I will get the grout remover mentioned on the link supplied (this looks better than the one I have). I appreciate your help.
Cheers - Paul

 

[nellyb]

Along a similar subject, I'm doing some victorian floor tiles at the moment and need to rake out the adhesive where it's bled through the joints. A normal grout rake is a bit on the big side for this and I was looking at getting a dremel type tool to grind it out. Does anyone know whether these dremels come with cutting/grinding discs that will do the job. The discs will have to be fairly fine as the joints are only 2mm.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[not so warm]

Thanks for the advice. I was trying to avoid the scraping out option as the tile grout is as hard as a bullet. I was hoping for a 'magic grout remover'. I have a grout scraper that hardly touches it. I guess an option is to remove the tiles and start again (please don't make me do it!).
Cheers - Paul

dremel it out, quicker than using the hand tools.

 

[gcol]

Depends how much you want to take out. If you're just re-finishing the grout then you don't need to take out all the grout - just enough to give a decent key for the new stuff and to remove the dirt from the surface.

 

[DIY_Dean]

Probably not relevant if you're just removing the grout from the wall behind one broken tile, but if you're removing a larger area of old grout, I find a wallpaper steamer works wonders - the grout just scrapes off easily with a wallpaper scraper.

 

[claireyfairey]

We just took of some horrible tiles to find original 1930s porcelain tiles underneath. Can we use the wallpaper stripper to take off the grout from the surface of these lovely tiles?
We just spent 6 hours trying to remove the porcelain tiles from a small section of wall and the tiles are not shifting.