Grout Removal - What tools that are fit for purpose

[Angling mad]

I know this topic has been discussed before as I have looked at some old posts but wanted to get some advice on current options as the ones I have found are a couple of years plus old. I have a knackered shoulder (Artritus) and I need to take out a fare amount of grout in a shower mainly in the corners some of the joints have cracked and hairlines up the vertical one side as a stud wall and slight movement over the years and some are quite thick circa 5mm joints. They have been covered with silicone beads and I have removed that already (Another very painful exercise). I note a cheapy hand tool blade and tool from Vitrex with cobalt tips screwfix sells and of course the Bosch multi tool with the HM-Riff segment blade for tile grout but before shelling out potentially £120 plus on this I would be grateful for some guidance from those poor folks that get charged with this crappy job on a regular basis.

[wine~o]

The bosch tool will make very light work of this, for a diyer Argos do a version for a lot less (never tried it so can't compare the quality)


http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 114700.htm


The screwfix jobbie will do the job, but requires far more elbow (shoulder) grease.

[nick200]

I use a dremmel but also something similar to this but from Wickes http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tile-Grout-Tung ... ut+remover

Both do the job

[Chris Skilbeck]

I bought a Vitrex grout rake a while ago - thankfully it was only for a tiny job - replacing 3 cracked tiles - the thing had such a mean little handle it made my hand hurt just to hold it firmly - that Blackspur one looks a bit more sensible.
For anything more than a few tiles, you've got to go for the multi-tool with a segment blade attachment, but make sure you hold tight, it'll grind tile as well as grout!
I've not used a dremmel for this purpose - may give it a go if I get a smaller job - the attachments always seem to wear out quicker than what you're grinding!

[nick200]

We had a small house that we were selling so we wanted to re grout the bathroom to make it look newer. They both worked ok for the small job but the rake could slip and scratch the tiles if not careful and the dremmel needed a few new attachments! I think that they have better attachments than what I ended up using!

[royaloakcarpentry]

Somebody better tell you........................

The internals with cracked grout where you have cut the silicone away. Internals will normally crack due to movement and they need to be siliconed. In the ideal world they would never have had grout put in them but backfilled with silicone until it overspilled and then the surplus tooled off to a neat angled joint. You can silicone these internals again, as are. new builds invariably have grouted internals with a silicone bead on top. Absolutely no point in paying £100 for a tool to clean the grout out only to replace the grout, when it should be silicone.

[dewaltdisney]

The best way is with an oscillating multitool see Chez's video for a demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6XtggsPNg

There are a few cheaper multitool versions around and it is worth having one as it just so useful for lots of little jobs that crop up. The Bosch tool is well made and if you shop around you can find them for around £60

DWD

[Angling mad]

Thanks to one and all for the feedback. I think I will follow "royaloakcarpentry's" advice and dig it all out and replace the corner edge entirely with Silicone as it make absolute sense to me. I like to use the Everwhite from everbuild as has lasted longer than any others I have used before. On the tools front having now done more research I am going to get Bosch proGOP250CE as it has so many uses for other jobs it will pay dividends in the long run. They also do a dedicated all in one blade again pricy but looks like the 2 together will make light work of it and help reduce the prospect of damage to the tiles.

[royaloakcarpentry]

Dow Corning 785 is the best sealant to use.

Be careful cleaning the grout out, sometimes it is stronger than the actual tiles and you will end up breaking a tile if you are not careful.

[Angling mad]

Dow Corning 785 is the best sealant to use.

Be careful cleaning the grout out, sometimes it is stronger than the actual tiles and you will end up breaking a tile if you are not careful.

Thanks, FYI I have ordered the new DeWalt Dwe315kt as it has the spec of a second generation tool plus loads of kit included, importantly including dust extraction, depth gauges and an LED light plus the oscillation angle is just 1.6 degrees and the speed 6000 to 20000. Hope it proves to be as good as it sounds at £195.