Bathroom: sealant over grouting?

[Mogs43]

Hi, I had my bathroom renovated two years ago and unfortunately some of the grouting has started to crack (see picture). I had a tiler out today to provide a quote. He has said that he will need to put sealant over the grout on the tiles on the floor to keep it looking white. I really don’t like the look of sealant and it always seems to go yellow. Do you think I have to have it or can I stick to just grout? The tiles are lovely (marble in the sale from Porcelanosa) and I don’t want to loose the effect. I don’t like much in my flat but love the bathroom.

I was thinking about putting down grey grouting but Porcelanosa said they only had white in stock and it’s been so hard to even get someone to quote. Just wondered what you would do?

I find it hard to get workmen to do what I want. Am very nervous about using this guy : he was recommended by a friend but I haven’t seen any of his work and don’t want to ruin my lovely bathroom. I have really struggled to find another tiler/ someone to do the grouting (am based in London ). He’s charging £380 (to replace grouting for four wall tiles and 6 on the floor). WWYD? Really I think I just want a good job done.

I’ve not done this before so would be grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Get bal grey floor grout, it's good quality and used widely in the trade.

Floor tile sealant is generally only used on porous floor tiles such as slate and certain porcelain tiles such as non polished.

Thanks. The tiles are porcelain and polished. He said that sealant was needed to stop the grout getting dirty/ crumbling again. But to be honest I think I would rather that than the look of sealant??

No the sealant would have nowhere to go on polished porcelain. Bal grey floor grout is hard af. I was in the trade at one point and have it on my hallway floor tiles still OK after 20yrs.

Grour generally only cracks if there is movement within the foor, you can get bal flexi floor grout if this is the case. Good luck with your project.

This 👆

I would be more interested in looking for the reason the grout has cracked already.

Sorry to harp on op. Floor sealant is a liquid put over the whole floor, I hope he wasn't talking about using silicone. Believe me I used to get told some strange stuff by customers.

Thank you for your replies. I have checked his quote (below). He definitely says sealer :

‘-Bathroom
Tiles:Remove old grout on the floor and on the walls where are cracked, filling with new grout and sealer on top.’

I had thought maybe the initial grout wasn’t mixed properly or when the refurbishment was done everything moved a little and the grout cracked? I think flexible grout as pp recommended may be the answer.

I am not sure if it is sealant or silicon that I have elsewhere in the bathroom in the joins (around bath etc) ? But it has started to go a bit yellow in patches and I really wouldn’t want that on the floor.

Ah I think he’s meaning some sort of sealer, more like a clear varnish, so the grout doesn’t discolour.

If the prep work isn't done correctly and the wrong adhesive n grout used aren't correct it can cause all sorts of problems. I had a customer come in asking for a tube of floor tile adhesive.?? Much head scratching... The guy had been using silicone to spot fix her floor tiles.. No wonder they were cracking... Nothing to support the tiles..there's all sorts of cowboys out there.

This is my bathroom that was finished about 5 months ago with similar tiles to yours OP using the Bal grouting in colour Ash.
Our guy didn’t actually use the sealer but I think that could be what your guy is referring to.

Thank you for all your replies. They look really nice. Did you buy the grout and sealer online?

Sorry to come back to this again (I’ve seen that the items can be purchased from Top Tiles etc will go and buy some).

Sorry if this seems like a crazy question : but how did the grout sealant look? Reason I ask is that the sealant around my bath/shower etc has quickly gone yellow . I don’t know if this is a completely different product.

Is the grout sealant clear/ transparent in colour? I wouldn’t really want a thick white or yellow line in between my tiles? Thank you again for your help.

I asked the tiler and he has said:

‘After doing the new grout, I will paint with this one all the flooring to keep all the floor and grout. This is a clear protection.’

Do you think that would work? Sorry for asking so many questions. Just a bit anxious about ruining the bathroom /tiles…

@Mogs43 It seems you might be confusing two completely different things.

Sealant is silicone that provides a rubbery seal between things, usually the shower tray and the tiles and is somewhat flexible and definitely waterproof.

Grout sealer is usually clear and seals the grout.

The reason grout discolours is because it is porous, it absorbs stains and discolours which is why a lot of people, myself included, use coloured grout. So one of the ways to protect the porous grout from absorbing any staining is to seal it with a waterproof sealer which is what your tiler is doing.

We also install our own bathrooms and showers just because we are good at DIY so I am the person who tiles the walls, grouts and silicone seals the top of the bath or the shower screen. The sealant usually yellows although some take longer than others, I tend to use Dow brand. If it has yellowed then it can be removed and reapplied. This is not something a novice should tackle in a shower because you might get a leak, this is something you build up to. There are people who specialise in this renovation though, your tiler may know someone or he may do it.

Cracked grout usually indicates movement so this could be that it will crack again or if your tiler uses a flexible grout it is less likely to crack unless there is too much movement meaning your subfloor (what your tiles are laid on) is not stable enough, only time will tell.

To remove grout there is a grout removal disc that attaches to an angle grinder, I have used this outside on our patio. I cannot imagine someone will do it by hand with a hand tool.

I cannot comment on your tiler's choice of grout sealer, I have seen that used externally but never for grouting. I hope this helps.

@Mogs43 great advice from @FoxglovesInBloom and yes, the products in my photo are from Topps Tiles.
We are currently dealing with a leak we discovered before Christmas in our newly fitted bathroom in the shower niche where the grouting wasn’t done properly. We had multiple issues with our fitter so I’m not surprised!
When it gets repaired we were considering grouting then putting a bead of clear silicone over the niche for extra protection.

@Clickncollect when you say getting it repaired are you doing it yourself or getting someone in?

If anyone is thinking of tackling any sort of sealant, or any DIY task, practise first, get scrap wood, screw two pieces together to make an L shape and then seal it along the join, scrape it off whilst wet, do it again. Then you can move onto actual bathrooms etc. YouTube is brilliant for all sorts of instruction videos and Charlie DIYte does one on how to silicone a corner. I use the Fugi sealant kit (profiling tool) which means all the sealant is perfectly even. Also never use your bare finger.

I would look to Gosforth Handyman's youtube channel. The silicone one is here:-

@FoxglovesInBloom 100% getting someone in as me and DH would make things ten times worse! Although my issue is grouting this time, we have used professional mastic companies in the past for other work and they do a magnificent job that I would never be able to replicate.
However, I do try to learn a bit so I can have a basic understanding of what is required.

Just that exactly, great tech know how from start to finish. 😁

Honestly, I learned so much from the internet and especially youtube including Gosforth Handyman linked above by Happiest, Charlie DIYte, Renovation Couple, Plumber Parts, Dereton 33, GSH Electrical for electrics, only basic electrics, I have an electrician for the serious stuff. We needed a new light switch and now you can get wireless ones, absolutely brilliant things. But I watch electrical instals of consumer units for fun, I find it fascinating seeing people do their jobs well and with care, looking at you Artisan Electrics and N Bundy.

I remember once ringing a heating engineer and I said my system was changed over from a Y plan to an S plan recently (or vice versa) and since then the port valve gets stuck if the heating is on, so no hot water, we have to pause the heating, call for hot water and then it works so it isn't permanently stuck. The engineer said most people just ring me and say I've no hot water I learned all about that on youtube as I was hoping it would be something we could maybe sort ourselves with the controller.

We lived in a house that we renovated from top to bottom and used it as a test of our skills for DIY, researched, took our sweet time doing things and became quite good. Plumbing is easy these days with push fit connectors. I can decorate as my Mum taught me when I was a teenager.

Hi, sorry if this is another ridiculous question. The guy has come today to do the painting, decorating and grouting. He was late this morning so said he will need to come back tomorrow to finish the job . He has washed all his brushes and equipment in my new expensive sinks (agh). Once he has gone is there anything I need to do to stop them from blocking up etc ? Eg should I put sink unblocker, beach or bicarbonate of soda down or do you think they will be okay? Sorry if this is a crazy question

Hi @Mogs43 sorry I can’t help with the sink cleaning. How did the job go? Hope everything has been sorted with no issues!

Thank you for your message. I think it has gone really well : although I suppose we will find out in the coming weeks if the grout starts to crumble etc again.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented for all the help, advice and support. I am very grateful. Thank you. It means a lot.

I can’t believe it! The grouting on the floor tiles has come out again!

I had a shower and then mopped and the grouting cracked and came out. I don’t know what the problem is. Perhaps the grouting isn’t flexible enough? Should I try a different grout? What would you do?