[scottyv81]

Hello, this might be more of a gut check for me. I'm replacing the grout in the shower and using a vitrex manual grout saw. Looked at the dremel tool but was afraid of damaging the tile.

The tiles seem super close together, so much so that the saw gets stuck and chips the porcelain when I pull it out. Is this normal and I just need to be more careful? Or are these tiles too close together? Second pic shows the saw wedged in the spacing.

 

[oh'mike]

I bet that those are self spacing tiles (small lugs cast into the edges)

You grout saw is kind of wide for that type of tile-----a carpenters utility knofe might be safer----

 

[scottyv81]

Thanks, yeah I switched to a utility knife and not chipping as much, but is still chipping once in a while. Any tips on fixing those chips? Will they just get covered with new grout?

 

[oh'mike]

Sorry, but the chips are there to stay---regrouting is a LOT of work----and rather risky.

Those are likely to be a soft,bisque backed tile---very easy to chip----

I do not do regrouting for the very reason you are running into---huge time allotment.

 

[scottyv81]

Yeah I really didn't want to do this (does anybody?) but the grout failed in quite a few spots so figured I had to do something before it got worse

 

[oh'mike]

Good plan---very often, when the 'grout fails' it is really the tile backer or adhesive that is failing----so be careful that you don't have the tiles fall off the wall---

 

[Ron6519]

Yeah I really didn't want to do this (does anybody?) but the grout failed in quite a few spots so figured I had to do something before it got worse

What do you mean by, "failing grout"? If a few spots fell out, here and there, I wouldn't bother with the re-grouting the whole bath. The parts that fell out were probably thin areas where the grout didn't get pushed all the way into the grout slot.
If large areas of grout are falling out, you have an installation problem. Re-grouting will only be a temporary fix. The backing or the tiles are not secure. The movement is causing the grout to pop out. It will continue to do so until fixed.

 

[scottyv81]

There are probably 6-10 spots of varying length on the large wall that have crumbled and fallen out. Each short wall also has 5-6 spots where the grout has fallen out.

As I read about doing this I also saw that both vertical corners are grouted as well as all the way around both corner soap dishes. From what I understand any change in plane should be caulked (?).

There are also some stains, so I thought I'd replace it all, do the plane changes right, and make sure it all matches at the same time.