If I'm an average do-it-yourselfer can anyone tell me how difficult it would
be to regrout the tiles in a small bathroom shower stall. The stall
measures 3' x 3' by about 7' tall. So two walls of tiles/grout, plus the
floor and ceiling tiles.
I was given a quote of $450 which I think is way too much.

Thanks,
Walter

"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news
If I'm an average do-it-yourselfer can anyone tell me how difficult it
would be to regrout the tiles in a small bathroom shower stall. The stall
measures 3' x 3' by about 7' tall. So two walls of tiles/grout, plus the
floor and ceiling tiles.
I was given a quote of $450 which I think is way too much.

It's easy, but tedious. The ceiling will be no fun. Also, "cleaning" or
"sawing" the current grout with a grout saw won't be much fun either, but
not really that bad at the end of the day. Go take a look in a DIY tile
book at your local Home Depot, or the library, and you'll see how to do it.
Sometimes people give high quotes like $450 because they don't really feel
like doing the job, but for $450 they get over those feelings. It doesn't
mean it will excite them into doing a better job than you can do though.

I priced some contractor work recently. I got the impression they are
charging out at about $80/hr. In your case it's likely they are trying
to get $500 for the day and shaved a bit off to give them an edge over
the others who might be bidding.

NB: I cut this back to a.h.r only.



Walter Cohen wrote:
If I'm an average do-it-yourselfer can anyone tell me how difficult it would
be to regrout the tiles in a small bathroom shower stall. The stall
measures 3' x 3' by about 7' tall. So two walls of tiles/grout, plus the
floor and ceiling tiles.
I was given a quote of $450 which I think is way too much.

Thanks,
Walter

It's easy, but tedious. The ceiling will be no fun. Also, "cleaning" or
"sawing" the current grout with a grout saw won't be much fun either, but
not really that bad at the end of the day. Go take a look in a DIY tile
book at your local Home Depot, or the library, and you'll see how to do it.
Sometimes people give high quotes like $450 because they don't really feel
like doing the job, but for $450 they get over those feelings. It doesn't
mean it will excite them into doing a better job than you can do though.

I highly recommend using a grout cutting bit in a Dremel tool. Using a
grout saw would be home repair hell.

BRW

wrote:
It's easy, but tedious. The ceiling will be no fun. Also, "cleaning" or
"sawing" the current grout with a grout saw won't be much fun either, but
not really that bad at the end of the day. Go take a look in a DIY tile
book at your local Home Depot, or the library, and you'll see how to do it.
Sometimes people give high quotes like $450 because they don't really feel
like doing the job, but for $450 they get over those feelings. It doesn't
mean it will excite them into doing a better job than you can do though.


I highly recommend using a grout cutting bit in a Dremel tool. Using a
grout saw would be home repair hell.

BRW

I haven't tried a grout saw, and the Dremel grout removal bit and
attachment worked well. Tedious, but does the job. I believe I used 3
bits for our shower walls, part way up. 3 walls about 4' wide, removed
grout about 5' up. Most important issue would be to make sure grout
space is wide enough for the bit or you might chip tile. I hit a few of
those spots, but the tile didn't chip. Dusty - need mask and eye
protection. I don't remember what it was that got dropped down the
shower drain during the project .. drill bit? Hubby bougght a neat
magnet on telescoping thingy to get it out. Worked like a dream.

In article et,
says...
wrote:
It's easy, but tedious. The ceiling will be no fun. Also, "cleaning" or
"sawing" the current grout with a grout saw won't be much fun either, but
not really that bad at the end of the day. Go take a look in a DIY tile
book at your local Home Depot, or the library, and you'll see how to do it.
Sometimes people give high quotes like $450 because they don't really feel
like doing the job, but for $450 they get over those feelings. It doesn't
mean it will excite them into doing a better job than you can do though.


I highly recommend using a grout cutting bit in a Dremel tool. Using a
grout saw would be home repair hell.

BRW

I haven't tried a grout saw, and the Dremel grout removal bit and
attachment worked well. Tedious, but does the job. I believe I used 3
bits for our shower walls, part way up. 3 walls about 4' wide, removed
grout about 5' up. Most important issue would be to make sure grout
space is wide enough for the bit or you might chip tile. I hit a few of
those spots, but the tile didn't chip. Dusty - need mask and eye
protection. I don't remember what it was that got dropped down the
shower drain during the project .. drill bit? Hubby bougght a neat
magnet on telescoping thingy to get it out. Worked like a dream.

I just finished the tile around my Jacuzzi tub. It was a royal
PITA because some of the tile was too close for the dremmel bit. I
went through something like 15 bits. At the BORG they're about $10
each but someone here pointed me leakyshower.com; 6 for $22.

http://leakyshower.com/regroutingbits.htm

--
Keith

"Norminn" wrote in message
nk.net...
wrote:

I highly recommend using a grout cutting bit in a Dremel tool. Using a
grout saw would be home repair hell.

BRW

I haven't tried a grout saw, and the Dremel grout removal bit and
attachment worked well. Tedious, but does the job. I believe I used 3
bits for our shower walls, part way up. 3 walls about 4' wide, removed
grout about 5' up. Most important issue would be to make sure grout space
is wide enough for the bit or you might chip tile.

Not only that, but it can bust plenty of blades, which gets tedious AND
expensive. The thing is, you don't have to clear out ALL the grout. Yes
you can take more out with the Dremel, but if you only have to take out a
little, the saw should be fine.

On Tue, 3 Oct 2006 08:13:31 -0400, "Walter Cohen"
wrote:

If I'm an average do-it-yourselfer can anyone tell me how difficult it would
be to regrout the tiles in a small bathroom shower stall. The stall
measures 3' x 3' by about 7' tall. So two walls of tiles/grout, plus the
floor and ceiling tiles.
I was given a quote of $450 which I think is way too much.


I purchased a grout remover tool from Home Depot for about $10-12, it
has a blue handle. It came with a normal blade and a carbide blade.

Using the carbide blade, I removed the grout from an 8 x 10 sq ft
floor area in two hours. I was amazed at how easy it was.

Now don't ask me about grouting. It was my lousy grouting that I had
to remove

Gary