40 May/June 2020
IF THE GROUT IN YOUR BATHROOM IS DISCOLORED
but sound, you don’t need to replace it.
It just needs a thorough cleaning with a
pro-grade tile and grout cleaner, such
as the Aqua Mix line by Custom Building
Products. If it’s truly foul, the nuclear
option would be to scrub dingy tile and
grout with a white Scotch-Brite pad,
and a mixture of two products from
Custom Building Products: Aqua Mix
NanoScrub and Aqua Mix Heavy-Duty
Tile & Grout Cleaner. If this won’t clean
it, nothing will. After cleaning, seal with
Aqua Mix Grout Sealer.
(1) If grout is flaking out of the
joints, rake them out with a carbide-grit
grout saw or a carbide scraper. For a
narrow joint, less than 1/8 inch, you
can also use a carbide-tip scoring tool,
a type of knife normally used to score
cement board. In either case, sweepREGROUT AND RECAULK
DIFFICULTY: ●○○○○
TOOLS AND
MATERIALS
Grout saw
Carbide-tip
scoring tool
Grout
Grout float
Grout and tile
sealer
Plastic brush
Sponge
Tub and tile caulk
Caulk gun
Utility knife
dust out of the joints with a clean plas-
tic brush, then wipe the surface with a
damp sponge or clean cloth and let dry.
(2) Apply fresh grout over the whole
area, moving your float over the joints
at a 45-degree angle. Wipe off up any
excess. (3) When the grout has dried,
use a tile sponge and water to wipe any
grout haze off the tile. When all is clean
and dry, reseal the entire surface.
To replace a caulked joint, use a
chlorine bleach-based cleaner to kill
mildew, and cut the old caulk out using
a utility knife. Clean the resulting notch
using the same cleaner. (4) Replace the
caulk with silicone sealant such as DAP
Silicone Max or GE Tub & Tile Silicone
Sealant, applied with a high-quality
caulk gun, like a Newborn 188. The
joint should now withstand daily use for
years.12