Where do we go from here--kitchen floor tile problems

18 years ago

DH bought this house 5 years ago--1960's brick ranch, and the eat-in kitchen (150 sq ft) has blue 12" ceramic tile with white grout (ugh) that he really liked. We are planning on doing some painting and counter upgrades and have made our plans based on the blue tiles to go for a beachy-cottage look. We have no idea how old this floor is. I am assuming this was a DIY job and not pro.

Last week we had Stanley Steemer out to clean and potentially seal the tile grout since we could never get it as good as we wanted. It started out great, and I was amazed how clean the grout was getting. Then the guy hit an area where apparently the grout had been patched incorrectly because the grout was coming up in pieces. So, end of high-pressure cleaning.

Now what? Do we have to regrout everything? Tear out the floor? There are a couple of tiles that will need replacement. We do have some extra tiles apparently, though I've never seen them.

BTW, we have no idea what is underneath this floor. There could be hardwood based on the living room, and if there is, gosh knows what condition it is in. I know from reading here that tile over hardwood is a huge mistake. However, the tile could even be over something else.

We do have a GC who helped us with the bathrooms last summer, including replacing a rotted subfloor in the half bath. Should we go just go through him, or use a tile specialist?

How urgent is this?

Any help appreciated!

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Comments (6)

buzzoo7
18 years ago
You can remove the rest of the grout in the area where it is loose from the high pressure cleaning and regrout that area only. I doubt that the tile is over hardwood since it doesn't sound like it's breaking up in a lot of areas and it's been down for at least 5 years. I would suggest getting a tile guy to take a look at it and give you his recommendations. Make sure it's someone who is a real pro who has referrences that you can count on. Talk to friends and neighbors, check with a couple of decorators in your area to get names of tile setters that come highly recommended with years in the business.
gsciencechick
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks; that's a good point that the rest of the floor is not breaking up in lots of areas, so hopefully it's not that bad.

We will get some recommendations for a tile person either from our GC or folks from the neighborhood association.
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jerry_t
18 years ago
Are you able to pull up a floor HVAC register to see whats underneath? If so you will need to pry away the galvanized boot some to see all the layers.
bud_cline
18 years ago
There is a reason the grout is breaking up and you should get to the source of the problem. It's hard to tell what the cause may be.

You could repair/regrout the bad area then use a grout colorant to color the entire room. White grout would have to change though.:)
gsciencechick
Original Author
18 years ago
I just wanted to post a follow-up. We had the tile looked at, and it can be regrouted. That's really all it needs. So, either he can do it (he's working on a estimate) or we can DIY. But if we have to get an expensive dremel tool to do it, it might be more cost effective to just have him do it.

There are no hardwood floors in the kitchens in our neighborhood. He said it is probably old linoleum.
kmcg123
18 years ago
Just saw your post. We have a similar problem with our floor in the kitchen. Have lived in the house 3 years. Recently had someone out to clean the grout and reseal. Now it looks worse because while most of the grout is now cleaner the stained grout stands out more! I have also come to the conclusion that the whole floor will need to be regrouted. Thought maybe Icould do it myseld, but it is a fairly big area and I am only a DIY wannabe. Was curious if you got back your estimate and how much it was going to be to regrout and the size of your floor. Thanks!