Grout is the weakest part of a tile installation by design. It fills the joints, but it is not structural and it is not waterproof. Over the years it cracks where the house moves, wears where water hits it and stains where it was never sealed.
Spot grout repair deals with the damaged areas without the cost of redoing the whole surface.
When Spot Repair Is Enough
Grout repair suits localized damage on an otherwise sound installation.
- A crack along one line of a floor or wall
- Pinholes or short sections missing in a shower
- Grout crumbling around a few tiles near the drain
- Joints washed out at the bottom of a shower wall
- A stained or discolored patch that will not clean up
How We Repair Grout
We remove the damaged grout to a consistent depth with an oscillating tool or carbide saw, taking care not to chip tile edges. The joints are vacuumed and dampened, then filled with new grout packed fully into the joint rather than smeared over the top.
Color matching is done against your cleaned existing grout. New grout cures lighter than it looks wet, so we choose from cured samples. Corners and the joint at the tub or shower floor are finished in silicone instead of grout, since they move.
When to Do More
If damage is spread across the whole shower or floor, regrouting throughout gives a uniform result and usually better value. If grout keeps cracking in the same place, there is movement to deal with first. And if tiles near the damage sound hollow, see shower tile repair or cracked tile replacement.
Need something else? See all of our tile repair & regrouting services, or learn more about your local tile contractor in Arlington, VA.
