Hi there,

today I heard a crack as I walked into my ensuite and a tile had failed. I have now replaced the tile and regrouted it and it looks like new

However, when I was there I saw that the person who originally installed the tiles had used what looks like a cement based grout at the edge of the wall where wall tile meets floor tile.

Now all the floor tiles (at least in this room) are actually mounted on ply etc, but all the grout at the edges of the room are clearly cracked (i can literally vacume out bits of it clean),

I am no expert but I am guessing that this grout required sealing because the tiles have moved.

Thanks in advance

My real question is should this actually be grout ? or should it be sealant. Sealant is obviously more flexible.

I have some Mapei cememnt (Ultra color) grey grout that I used for the floor, so so I need to grout the edges then seal it OR do I just fill the void with sealant that matches..(Mapei make one thats close)

your grout has it only cracked around outside were it meet walls and yes no grout should be silicone to allow floor and walls to move you need to remove all grout around edges so you have a open gap then silicone same color as grout hope this helps

Thanks jay.

Well the whole floor was cracking, so I drilled out ALL grout and got all the dust out I then made sure it was all on ply and not on floor boards and was about to regrout when i noticed bascially someone had placed grout on the edge (its sealant where the shower meets the tiles so I have no idea why they've used grout on the edge.

Its not just cracked I can physically hoover the grout out in lumps.

So I'm guessing just to clear that and seal and job done.

same as jay said, when the grout cracks and crumbles, pick as much out as uyou can, vacum any loose bits up, then silicone (use a good one, same colour as tiles) that corner tape might be worth a look at, i am trying it out on my next job

hold the boat if all your grout is cracked you may have a bigger prob just how old is this job and does the floor flex when you walk on it or bounce on it from your earlier post you mentioned a cracked tile was the glue totally covering floor and the back of the tile

if the whole floor is cracking, not just around the edges, something is defo not right, maybe flex adhisive was not used, you will need to look in to it.

Have you thought about calling your installer back..?

Originally Posted by Dave

Have you thought about calling your installer back..?

hehe yes dave

Unfortuantely the installer was the previous owner of the house who has long since gone. However I have had to replace tiles etc on this floor before and I did know he used the right adhesive and stuff..

I should have made it clear that he basically used a non flexi grout and even though he's used ply that is screwed its in a bathroom on the top floor so theres bound to be some movement.

I'd scraped all grout out and reinstalled it properly with a decent flexible grout and when I bought that grout I also noted the sealant so its all going to match.

Next year I'm "getting a man in" anyhow to totally retile the floor but at the moment its just asking for cracks in tiles to appear etc as happened before.

Thanks for all your help guys.

It sound as though it just settlement between the two surfaces.
Nothing to worry about just use the silicone and it should be fine.