Regrouting a Shower: What It Involves and What It Costs

Regrouting is one of the best value jobs in a bathroom when it is the right answer, and a waste of money when it is not. The difference is whether the problem is in the joints or behind the tiles.

When regrouting is the right call

Regrouting works when the tiles and the structure are sound and the grout has simply reached the end of its life:

• Grout is stained through and no longer responds to cleaning
• Grout is cracked or crumbling in places
• Grout is missing in patches
• The shower looks tired but everything is solid

In this situation the tiles are fine, the membrane underneath is doing its job, and the joints are the only thing that has aged. New grout makes a dated shower look genuinely renewed for a fraction of a renovation.

When it is not

Regrouting will not fix anything behind the tiles. If any of these are present, new grout hides the symptom while the actual problem continues:

• Drummy tiles that sound hollow when tapped
• Efflorescence, white crystalline deposits that return after cleaning
• Staining on the ceiling below
• Soft or swollen wall sheeting
• Mould returning within days in the same spot

Each of these suggests water is getting past the tile face and the membrane is not containing it. The full list of warning signs is worth checking before spending money on grout.

This is worth being blunt about: a regrout on a failed wet area buys appearance for a while and nothing else.

What the job involves

1. Removing the old grout. This is most of the work and most of the cost. The grout is raked out of the joints with a grout saw or an oscillating tool, deep enough to give the new grout something to bond into rather than skimming over the old.

It is slow, dusty and it is where the skill is, because the tool is running along the edge of tiles you do not want to chip.

2. Cleaning the joints. Every trace of dust and old material out, or the new grout will not bond.

3. Grouting. New grout worked into the joints, excess removed, then cleaned back before it sets.

4. Curing. Grout needs time before it gets wet. At least 24 hours in most cases, and manufacturers often specify longer before full water exposure.

5. Silicone. Internal corners and the wall-to-floor junction get silicone rather than grout, because those junctions move. If the old silicone is being replaced too, and it usually should be, it is cut out and renewed after the grout has cured.

What it costs

For a standard shower recess in Sydney, regrouting generally lands in the low to mid hundreds. What moves it:

Tile format. Mosaics have vastly more grout per square metre than 300x600 tiles. A mosaic shower can cost several times a large-format one for the same area.

Area. Whether it is the shower recess only or the whole bathroom.

How the old grout comes out. Well-installed hard grout is slower to remove than crumbling grout.

Whether silicone is included. It usually should be. Old discoloured silicone next to fresh grout looks worse than before you started.

We quote after looking at it, because tile format and the condition of the existing grout make more difference than the square metres.

Choosing the new grout

Colour. An opportunity. A mid tone will stay looking clean much longer than white, particularly on a floor. Matching the tile makes the surface read as one plane.

Epoxy grout is an option worth considering in a shower. It is not porous, so it does not absorb and does not need sealing. It costs more and is harder to work with, so it is not standard, but in a heavily used shower it can be worth it.

Sealing. Cement-based grout should be sealed once cured. How to do it.

DIY or not

It is one of the more approachable bathroom jobs. The risk is chipping tiles while raking out old grout, particularly around edges, and doing an inconsistent job that looks worse than tired grout did.

If your tiles are irreplaceable, or the shower is mosaic, it is worth having someone do it who has done a lot of them.

We regrout showers across Sydney. Our tiling services page covers repairs and regrouting, and if the bathroom turns out to need more than grout, our renovation packages are fixed price from $18,999.