Grout in shower - falling out

[Skid Solo]

Hi,

I have a problem with the grout in a ensuite shower.

The shower has not been used for a while (couple of months) as the whole heating hot water system has recently been replaced. Now that we are re-using the shower the grout between the tiles has started ‘popping’ out i.e. when we have a shower we find lengths of grout (around 2” long) sitting in the bottom of he shower tray and I can see where the grout has come out from between the tiles on one wall.

During the recent installation there was a leak from a pipe in the loft (existing joint was not up to main’s pressure) which was fixed however the wall behind these tiles (cavity plasterboard) got wet and the wallpaper on the other side has blistered in places.

The whole ensuite is to be replaced in a coupe of years (just cant afford at the moment having just had whole new heating and hot water system) and I quite expect to have to replace the plasterboard during this exercise prior to re-tiling, however I don’t want water from the shower going elsewhere in the house until this refurbishment is complete

Can you therefore suggest an interim fix to last a coupe of years ? my thoughts were :

• Just re-grout where the grout has come out (not sure this will help that much and may be an ongoing activity until I refurbish)
• Scrape out old grout and replace with new (lot more work and should I give the wall behind some time to dry ? should I remove a tile to see what is actually going on behind ?)

Obviously open to other solutions, would silicone be better than grout as a repair?

Your thoughts appreciated

Thanks

[jay]

what about insurance should cover water damage

[GirlRacerRed]

hi there

as you've pointed out, a refurbish would obviously be the best option, but cash flow is hindering this. I was in a similar situation with my en-suite shower cubicle last year, although we weren't losing grout, water was seeping behind the tiles and ruining the plasterboards behind.

we tried to interim fix by pulling off all the loose tiles and regrouting but this only lasted a year and eventually the tiles came loose again. in the end for us, it was just the grout holding the tiles up.

you may find that if you start taking grout out of joints, the tiles may start to come away too. it's a delicate decision. if you've got no choice but to re-grout, then do the whole lot. don't try to patch where grout has come out in parts. best to use brand new grout in clean joints. be prepared to have to re-fix tiles to the walls too, and be prepared that you may have to take the decision to decommission the en-suite if water is seeping into the walls behind the tiles.

silicone instead of grout wouldn't really work as again, you need to have nice clean joints and silicone isn't really designed to fill grout joints.

it's not going to be an easy process so just do a little at a time.

[jay]

As Girl racer said best fix is to remove and re do best with a waterproof membrane

[Skid Solo]

Eventually I will remove and replace with waterproof membrane, but really just looking for a short term solution.

The ensuite is quite large and needs total replace including full suite (very large spa bath, double shower cubicle, twin sinks, toilet) tiles, wall and floor and radiator. This may also involve some moving around for the shower. So I am loathed to do to much to fix just to last a couple of years i.e. tanking and new tiles (doubt I could get anything to match the tiles in there anyway)

I will strip out some of the grout over the weekend and hopefully find a loose tile to remove and see what its like behind, we will also stop using that shower until I have completed inspection and remedial work

Thanks for your advice

[aph257]

with a tight budget i think you've got the short term fix sorted. it's probably the best solution for now.