Hairline crack in shower grout

empty_vessel · 11 Dec 2008

Hi,

I've recently noticed a hairline crack running vertically through the grout in my shower, from the top to the bottom of a stud wall, which I think just has plasterboard behind it.

As all the work was done before I moved in I don't know if the grout is decent, whether the stud wall is WBP Ply/Plasterboard/Wediboard or similar and I also have no idea whether it is tanked.

To fix this should I remove all the grout down the vertical gap and some from the intersecting horizontal ones then re-grout using a decent grout or am I just saving up problems for the future? Keen not to spend too much money/time on this at the moment but if I need to do a more extensive fix to prevent problems in the short term then I will.

Thanks in advance,

e_v

gcol · 11 Dec 2008

That's the best you can do under the circumstances. Use a flexible grout. You might well end up doing the lot in time.

roughcaster · 11 Dec 2008

Maybe the vertical tile joint is directly over the vertical joint in the plasterboard, and has movement/flexed,, and cracked...... I'm not refering to your tiles in particular here, but cracking grout over an area of tiles, can also be a sign of tiles, both wall and floor tiles, coming away from a substrate.

Roughcaster.

gcol · 11 Dec 2008

roughcaster said:
...and has movement/flexed, and cracked......

There's no "maybe" about it - movement will have caused it to crack.

Richard C · 11 Dec 2008

Try raking out & new flexible grout as gcol suggests or run a silicone gun down it if you think it’s moving to any extent but if it’s just plain old PB behind there (unfortunately most likely!), I fear the damage is probably already done. Repair it as best you can, you’ve nothing to loose & time will tell but you may well end up having to pull it all down & start again; the repair will give you some breathing space though.

roughcaster · 12 Dec 2008

The "maybe" Gcol, refered only to the possibility of the vertical tile joint, lining up directly over the vertical joint in the plasterboard, causing the grout to crack ..... The other point made was a general one, that multiple cracking along grout lines will indicate that the tiles have movement, and are losing/lost their adhesion.

Roughcaster.

empty_vessel · 12 Dec 2008

I've gone and got some BAL Microflex - hopefully should get the grout out and re-done tomorrow. Not really sure how I'll tell if the plasterboard joint is under the grout joint and what to do about it if it is?

On a completely separate note - Topps Tiles in Yeovil charge the earth for a 3.5kg bag of grout - £14.95!!! Would otherwise have gone to a local favourite, Tile Wise, but they only seem to stock Mapei Ultracolour and I wanted the flexibility and adhesion promised by BAL Microflex.

Thanks for all the replies,

e_v

Richard C · 13 Dec 2008

empty_vessel said:
I've gone and got some BAL Microflex - hopefully should get the grout out and re-done tomorrow. Not really sure how I'll tell if the plasterboard joint is under the grout joint and what to do about it if it is?

On a completely separate note - Topps Tiles in Yeovil charge the earth for a 3.5kg bag of grout - £14.95!!! Would otherwise have gone to a local favourite, Tile Wise, but they only seem to stock Mapei Ultracolour and I wanted the flexibility and adhesion promised by BAL Microflex.

Thanks for all the replies,

e_v

You’ll have no real way of knowing without removing the tiles but there is nothing you can really do about it anyway; I would only worry if it happens again. Topps will charge you the earth for BAL products given less than ½ a chance; always ask for a discount but how much you’ll get rather depends on what you’re spending. If possible I always use a trade outlet but they closed ours here recently so I usually end up in Tops & barter.

empty_vessel · 13 Dec 2008

As usual the job is trickier than I thought - some kind soul had left in all those plastic spacers so when they come out they bring a bit of the glazed part of the tiles off. I don't want to wreck all the tiles but if I don't get all the grout out then the new stuff won't bond properly.

Not sure how to continue, thankfully we have another shower though so there's no massive rush. Any ideas?

Thanks,

e_v

Richard C · 13 Dec 2008

empty_vessel said:
As usual the job is trickier than I thought - some kind soul had left in all those plastic spacers so when they come out they bring a bit of the glazed part of the tiles off. I don't want to wreck all the tiles but if I don't get all the grout out then the new stuff won't bond properly.

Not sure how to continue, thankfully we have another shower though so there's no massive rush. Any ideas?

Thanks,

e_v

Dont' chip all the tiles, just rake out the grout eather side of the spacers; they are actually designed to be left in there & there is no way you would take them out as you were tiling! If all else fails, run a silicone gun down it.

gcol · 14 Dec 2008

Richard C said:
..they are actually designed to be left in there & there is no way you would take them out as you were tiling!

Actually Richard, any tiler worth his salt wouldn't leave the spacers in there. You would use the spacers, but you would just use them by sticking one of the legs inbetween the tiles, then pulling them out when the adhesive has set up. You can get peg spacers that are essentially little bars. Have a look on here http://www.tradetiler.com/acatalog/Spacers_and_Wedges.html

Richard C · 14 Dec 2008

gcol said:
Actually Richard, any tiler worth his salt wouldn't leave the spacers in there. You would use the spacers, but you would just use them by sticking one of the legs inbetween the tiles, then pulling them out when the adhesive has set up. You can get peg spacers that are essentially little bars. Have a look on here http://www.tradetiler.com/acatalog/Spacers_and_Wedges.html[/QUOTE]

I don’t usually take them out unless they may show but if that’s what pro tillers do then I stand corrected but I am surprised & at a loss to understand why . Why on earth go to the trouble of buying cross spacers & use 4 x as many by just sticking one end between the tiles; You might as well use peg spacers to start with or even matchsticks! I appreciate the need to make the odd correction if things start to get slightly out but surely cross spacers have been designed to evenly space all 4 adjacent tiles, be left in place & grouted over, isn’t that why they are hollow

gcol · 14 Dec 2008

Richard C said:
I don’t usually take them out unless they may show but if that’s what pro tillers do then I stand corrected but I am surprised & at a loss to understand why .
Why on earth go to the trouble of buying cross spacers & use 4 x as many by just sticking one end between the tiles; You might as well use peg spacers to start with or even matchsticks! I appreciate the need to make the odd correction if things start to get slightly out but surely cross spacers have been designed to evenly space all 4 adjacent tiles, be left in place & grouted over, isn’t that why they are hollow

Oh don't misunderstand me; I'm not saying that that's not what they were designed for and how they were intended to be used. Just that tilers do not use them in the way that they were intended.
As far as I've seen, only large floor tile spacers are hollow - I've never come across a hollow wall tile spacer.
Peg spacers are not as readily available as the cross spacers, so you just use what you can get hold of. They're not expensive you know!
There are a few reasons that tilers don't generally leave cross spacers in; one is because it actually takes longer to position the spacers so that they don't slip behind the tiles or show through when grouted - it's not worth leaving them in. Plus, if you take them out, you can use them again!

For floor tiling, leaving the spacers in will mean that in the following years the spacers will gradually be revealled by mopping. You might think not, but believe me - mopping once a week will eventually wear down the grout.
Oh course, the other benefit of not leaving the spacers in, is that you don't struggle if and when you need to re-grout.

empty_vessel · 16 Dec 2008

Well, I got over the spacers issue, managed to cut the horizontal bits with a stanley knife and pop out the vertical sections before I regrouted.

Got the grout in no trouble and spent forever getting the silicone out as it was breaking down in places. Just got to do the new silicone seal then we're back in full working order!

Thanks for the help - if I ever re-do the shower I'll be plasterboarding, tanking, using decent adhesive and grout then decent silicone. I reckon I could have completely re-tiled the shower cubicle in the time it's taken to re grout and renew the silicone! Do it well, do it once. Thanks again.

e_v

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Hairline crack in shower grout

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