Hi all, just finished my first re grout and have to say it WILL be my last for a while! What a pain in the backside, i had a dremel to help but 'oh my god'! my whole body is killing cos the dremel just couldn't get through some of the grout, it seemed really hard in places and soft in others! does anyone know why? is it just cos of the way it was mixed when it was first grouted? anyway i'm so happy it over!

Some grouts, certainly ones with polymer additives, both single part or two part can be quite dense when they're cured. It's just a tough job to rake out the grout, the re-grouting is a doddle I'm sure you'll agree.

Checkout the Fein from www.tradetiler.com - does a few things not just re-grouts. Though it's priced fairly as the work done with it can be charged accordingly. A sort of time-saver with a profit to it too.

Some 'pre spacer' tiling jobs, the ones where they used the cardboard box the tiles came in, and you can't get anything in to rake the old grout out are 'a real joy'...

i wanted to get the fein but couldn't afford. The customer was well chuffed after i'd finished, little did she know i'd lost about a stone in sweat! Didn't charge enough really, only thought it would take about a day and half, took 3! We live and learn!!!

Originally Posted by lcjohno

i wanted to get the fein but couldn't afford. The customer was well chuffed after i'd finished, little did she know i'd lost about a stone in sweat! Didn't charge enough really, only thought it would take about a day and half, took 3! We live and learn!!!

Out of interest how large was the area, and how much did you charge for it? I have a few re-grouts coming up and a little hesitant to say the least! I have the Fein (great bit of kit) however re-grout jobs are still very hard work no matter what tools you have. I prefer to colour seal over top and just regrout the bad parts. I find that Colour seal is the only way to get a consistant finish, as it can be very hard to colour match new grout to the old.

hi rob, the area was 14m2. i thought i'd get grout out in a day or day and a half but it took 2 and half then put new grout in. I know for the future now though. I charged 2 days for it and told customer it would take 2 days, i was lucky though because the customer asked me if i wanted more money cos it took three days It is hard work, get some good dust masks, open the window and go for it!

Originally Posted by faithhealer

Some 'pre spacer' tiling jobs, the ones where they used the cardboard box the tiles came in, and you can't get anything in to rake the old grout out are 'a real joy'...

i'll look forward to encountering one of those jobs john!

Fein is differently the best tool for removing grout. Was able to do 13m2 in 1 day. Tiles were 600mm x 300mm so wasn't to much grout to be removed compared to a smaller tile.

I've got my 1st re-grout next week, and no fein so have to do it the hard way.... I can honestly say i'm not looking forward to it. How much of the old grout do i need to remove? Can you get away with just taking a few mm's out, or does it all need to be removed!?!

You might want to take a look at the bosch pmf 180,not as powerful a a fein but still a very useful tool and a lot less £'s and blades are also a lot cheaper.Had mine about 2 years now and it's had a lot of abuse and still going strong.

Originally Posted by beanz

I've got my 1st re-grout next week, and no fein so have to do it the hard way.... I can honestly say i'm not looking forward to it. How much of the old grout do i need to remove? Can you get away with just taking a few mm's out, or does it all need to be removed!?!

hey beanz

i re grouted my parents bathroom and did it with a grout rake. basically i just got as much out as i could. it's back breaking work. and where bits of grout wouldn't come out, i got hubby to try instead

but try and do whatever you can to make it easier on yourself

Have a look at the dremel beanz, they sell an attachment for it with a a drill bit. The attacment follows the grout line which your raking out while the bit removes the grout. Works well if the grout lines are good and all the same. I think the dremel is about 30-40 quid and the grout removing bit is about 20quid, not cheap but cheaper than the fein. Good luck with it mate!

Somebody mentioned the hardie score and snap cutter for regrouting, tried it and works well

Thanks for the tips guys n gals. Power tools aren't an option for this one, as i'm completely skint at the moment (and i mean COMPLETELY), but hopefully i'll be able to shell out for something before i get another re-grout.

One word of warning Beanz if you do eventually by a dremmel, the grout removal cutter WILL eat its way through tiles very easily so make sure you don't stray off line!!! Fein doesn't have the same problem.

deffo dont use the dremmel as grumpy says done my mums bathroom just eats into the tiles

very interesting, can somebody please explain how exactly to use the Fein to remove grount and how it doesnt attack the tile edge - thanks.