Can't shift grout between shower tiles

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8 Jan 2009
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Glengormley
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Morning everybody – latest project is to replace a cracked pan in my shower, so I have to remove the bottom course of tiles. Actually, I’ll probably remove all of them and re-tile anyway… but I can’t get the grout out! I do want to save the tiles if possible, in case I don’t re-tile the whole thing.



I bought a rake from Screwfix, and I’m quite strong, but honestly, it hardly scratches it. Am I doing something monumentally stupid? It came with two kinds of blade simultaneously attached, so I removed the sort of file-like one, leaving the little saw blade in place, and have been scraping back and forward forever – on one tile – and it’s hardly scratching it.



I may get an electric one, but everybody reckons these work fine, so it must be me :(



Thanks
 
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It depends on the grout that has been used. If it's the good stuff, very rare unless you have done it yourself, then that can be extremely difficult to remove with those silly kid's tools. I used a multitool to remove the grout but you have to be careful because that can burn the tile edges.

Love your avatar by the way. that must have been written by a "professional."
 
It depends on the grout that has been used. If it's the good stuff, very rare unless you have done it yourself, then that can be extremely difficult to remove with those silly kid's tools. I used a multitool to remove the grout but you have to be careful because that can burn the tile edges.


Thanks Pete – no, the previous inhabitants of this place were animals – I’ve spent 8 months undoing their electrics, plumbing, flooring… I could go on. A lot. So the grout does seem to be very hard.


When you say a “multitool”, do you mean a Dremel or something, or one of these?


Love your avatar by the way. that must have been written by a "professional."


Well, have to confess I didn’t write it, but I do bear the scars of a long career in IT Support :eek::eek::eek:
 
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I bought this from LIDL a while back, wasn't expecting miracles but it's taken a everything I can throw at it anx still going!.

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Well, LIDL don’t seem to do the multi tool any more, and Screwfix are out of stock everywhere. So I sat down with a miniature screwdriver and hammer and, chipping out about a millimetre at a time, eventually got all the tiles out. Took hours; only broke two, which I reckon Araldite Rapid will fix.



Can’t remember if I said why I’m doing this – the shower tray had cracked many years ago, and the previous owners were probably unaware of it till skirting boards started to show signs of dry rot, with the water seeping out and creeping down the hall etc for years.



So the shower tray turned out to be made of concrete – gave it a few bangs with the hammer, and it broke up nicely. Now I have to cut out and replace all the diseased wood behind the tiles etc, then get a new tray fitted by somebody who knows what he’s doing.



What do people reckon is the best material for the tray to be made of?



And what do you reckon to shower tanking kits?
 

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