Newb re-grouting shower

I guess all I can say by way of excuse is that the youtube videos made it look easy!

Thought this was a project I could tackle but my frustration levels are reaching the danger zone.

Every video shows the job being done with a different tool.

None of the tools I've tried have worked. Most recently I've been using a Dremel 3000. I first tried it with a circular disc bit (that seemed to be used in a video) but it was impossible to use it and not accidentally have it slide and cut across a tile.

I then bought the dremel grout kit with the plastic guide and 1/16th grout-cutting bit. That seemed to work okay for the grout as I went down, but again proved impossible not to nick the tile as I tried to go across. When I got to the end of each tile going across it would always start traveling downward and cut out the edge of the tile. Then after maybe 4 channels the entire bit broke off. I don't know if trying the bigger grout bit would be better...not really sure what to do at this point.

 

I use a Rockwell Multi Crafter with there diamond blade.
Super fast.

 

Oscillating multi-tools are fantastic. That's the tool Joe is talking about. They range from 40.00 up in price and are available everywhere now. If you're looking at increasing your tool aresnal this is definitely a worthwhile tool. The pic below shows the tool with the diamond blade. I just did a shower...... it was a breeze.




This is the same type of tool that doctors use to cut casts off. The blade just vibrates. You can actually touch the blade without getting cut. The Depot near me usually has them plugged in and setup on a table to test out.

 

Thanks for the info. It is aggravating that I will need to purchase a different power tool and thus probably push my total $ spent to a higher number than originally hiring a professional would have, but if there's one single thing I've learned from other projects it's that 90% of the job is using the right tool.

 

What a nightmare.

I ended up buying the multimax. So far so good...but what do I do with all the old grout that's now a fine powder at the bottom of the shower?? I tried my shop vac and it just blew the grout all over the entire bathroom!

 

Your shop vac need to have a proper filter installed to capture the dust or it will simply blow it all over the room. Glad you are moving forward positively on the grout removal. Let us know when you are ready to re-grout. Are you going with the same color? or changing things up?

 

I will never make it to the re-grout step until I figure out how to get rid of the old grout. I can't find any product via google that will capture this kind of dust, unless i want to buy an entirely new kind of shop vac.

 

What I did was to put a new filter in my shop vac and then I took a second hose from the discharge line and stuck it out the window. All the fine dust that got thru the filter went outside.

 

I ended up doing this, bought a hose from the hardware store and ran it out of the window.

Now I need to figure out how to remove the grout from the corners where the multimax blade won't reach.

 

You can get into the corners with a utility knife. Don't worry about if being razor sharp as the first pull will dull it. Continue to take multiple pulls with the knife. Each pull will scrape a little more off until you are where you need to be.

 

The further I go, the more I see what's wrong and wonder how in over my head I am and what to do. Currently trying to get all the hard to reach grout out with a utility knife. There are several tiles that I was always going to try to change out due to have chunks out of them, but now I wonder about some of the other tiles too, as they're all pretty rough now it seems.

I've attached some pics of what I'm working with.