We were in the process of grouting tile that we had installed on our kitchen wall. While spreading the grout on, I suffered a medical issue that required me to be taken to the hospital, where I stayed for over a week. Needless to say, the grouting came to a halt for both myself and my wife during this time.

We came home from the hospital and the last spread of grout is dried harder than a rock all over the tile (yup, we spread it on, but left before wiping it off the tile). We have tried everything to clean the grout from the tile (short of grinding it off, which would ruin the tile of course), but it's just not coming off the tile. Is there a chemical that will simply remove the grout at this point to where we can start over? Scraping, scrubbing, etc. just hasn't worked.

Our tile is gorgeous and we'd rather not have to redo that part of the job, we just want to remove the grout.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

i don't know much about it but sounds like you're going to have to abuse the tile at this point. seems like any chemical strong enough to remove the grout will ruin the tile too. good luck.

 

A mild acid like vinegar helps remove grout haze, have never personally run into your issue and can only imagine the task ahead for you. I found this link that specifically addresses your problem however, I have never used the product.

http://www.tileshop.com/diy/pdf/prob...ze_Removal.pdf

 

WARNING, please realise that tile grout can contain Asbestos. Have the grout tested by a specialist.

I blasted a tonne of it off with a power tool. Pounded it into powder. I was wearing the best mask you can get, didn’t help it got everywhere. 24 hours later someone told me grout can contain Asbestos. I checked it out for myself, it most certainly can. Don’t let anyone tell you it cant.
Lucky for me I had it tested 24 hours later (express post to a lab) and it was fine, no Asbestos. But on my google searching prior to finding out it was fine, I came across all these forums of people blasting it off as I did. I’m now going to post on all the forums I can giving warning about tile Grout. Its not just the grout, its also some tiles, make sure you do your research instead of turning your home into a danger zone.

 

Thatguyshodraws, welcome to the forums! Grout does not contain asbestos. Asbestos has been banned since the 1970's in building components. Where did you get your information?