Why do you want to remove it?

There's a neat little carbide attachement you can stick in a recip saw to use to remove unwanted grout. For example: https://www.zoro.com/milwaukee-grout-removal-tool-coarse-carbide-grit-49-00-5450/i/G1654107/feature-product?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIovOByYr32AIVTiSBCh2ZEQUgEAQYASABEgK2cfD_BwE

This looks awesome! No idea how to remove grout just wanted to pass along the compliment!

That’s a lovely shower floor, as is!

I'm sorry you don't like it, as it appears (from this photo only) to be just fine. But to answer your question, we would use a Dremel.

what's wrong w/the grout? it's perfect. to try and remove all that would take months! What color did you get and what color do you want?

My comment is "are you sure those glass tiles are safe for shower floors?" Are those from Sonoma?

Don't touch it. It will "tone down" after a month of use. Any attempt to remove the grout will compromise the integrety of the floor.

Looks fine to me !

As fixer said.

I think the consensus is to leave it alone. But, we really can't tell with an internet photograph. The color could be distorted on our screens. Do what fixer said. Leave it alone for a month or two. You can always come back later with a dremel. You may discover that it's just fine with a some passage of time.

A careless hand with grout removal and you are through the waterproofing. Don’t buy any more trouble than you already have here.

As a retired flooring installer of 26 years, hire a pro to remove it. There are many ways to damage the pan and membrane if you've not dealt with this before. Small grout saws and a utility knife are the fastest way, (I've never had much luck with a dremel.) Power tools can damage the file without extreme care.

Solvents can ruin the finish on tile and glass mosaics.

Again. the best way is to hire a Pro for grout removal in a shower pan.

Thank you for all your comments. Just to follow up, we got a discolored batch of grout that was light and we planned on dark. Under the tutelage of our tiler we used his MultiMaster with a carbide blade and although it took about 12 hours, successfully removed the old grout, without damaging the tiles or the pan. If one is careful and has a steady hand, it is not nearly as difficult as many warned. Grout changes the appearance of the tiles dramatically, which is why it had to be redone. It isn't that the lighter grout looked awful, it was that the shower pan tiles then didn't match the wall tiles like they did before they were grouted. I will send before and after so you can see. I do agree that if one isn't careful it would be easy to ruin but we are fairly skilled and also believe you can do anything you set your mind to. Don't let others scare you into settling for a look that doesn't work! Here is a photo of the tool we used. Thanks to the one or two pro's who didn't question and just told us they used a dremel. The multimaster was sufficient but could be followed with the dremel with the needle nose diamond blade to clean up grout on sides. Thanks all!

Its really easy to get too deep with those tools and go through the waterproofing layer. Really easy. It’s just underneath the tile. If it was waterproofed correctly. What waterproofing system was used?

You won’t be able to tell until some time passes and it gets used. Then the small leaks start.

Thanks Sophie. I know you have lots of experience, not sure how much tiling and bathroom construction you have done, but our tiler has done little else for over 20 years. He explained that beneath the thinset there are 2 inches of water protectant, underlayment, part of which is cement and there is no way we have pierced that. I understand what your concern was and viable for DIYers who may be doing the whole thing themselves. We only removed the grout ourselves to avoid the high hourly we would have had to pay our tile guy to do it.

2" of water protectant? Like what? Cement is porous, moisture can still pass through it.

@ ron, that would destroy the tiles. I can't even believe that they make that attachment for that tool. oscillating saw or dremel like lcita showed.

Tony, not sure why you would make such a nasty comment, not only am I not a stay at home mom, I'm a business professional and my fiancé and I did this at night after dinner. No one will rip it out as we are planning on living here through our retirement. We are doing a full house renovation and the shower pan is done, grout successfully removed. It's done, will be grouted again this week.
Work on your anger issues somewhere else, your chauvinism is especially untimely.

You have big RED FLAGS here. That description of your shower and waterproofing ain’t how it’s done. Lots of old dogs “doin it thataway fer years”. And do it WRONG.

Post your in progress pictures. You may be tearing it out in 18 months.

Really don't understand why you are concerned. We have removed the grout and barely even touched the thinset, let alone pierced the underlayment. Wondering if people aren't realizing the grout had just been done so wasn't fully hardened. Have all these naysayers tried to remove grout and been unable to?Only had to replace 2 tiles. I assure you there are no problems. Just posting this last response out of respect to Sophie and her experience We have an excellent tile guy and contractor who have managed the process. Obviously people who say it can't be done are wrong because we have done it. Looks just like it did before it was grouted. Really surprising to get such strong reactions over grout. Thanks to all the well intended.

OP, glad to see you were able to remove the grout! Enjoy your new shower! I love your tile choice!

Looks very nice...

Hope there is matching caulk also being done as there is a lot missing in those pics.

Your taking comments to heart and people are just giving warnings from years of experience. Removing grout is not an easy job and there is concern with damaging the tile sand the underpayment. You happy thats what counts.

wannabath, where are you seeing that? Just curious...

Stain the grout darker

Goodness knows that when you don't want the grout to stain it will get darker and darker.

Thanks, Beverly. We did get all the grout out and will use much darker grout now. If we hadn't been able to remove it, we would have done just that.

Yea you definitely do not want to have stain around that mosaic. If I'm
correct, that glass in the mosaic has a crackle finish (which should
have been sealed prior to grouting). The crackle finish is known to hold
grout color pigment if not sealed properly and would also take in stain
if added around it, altering the color of the glass.
In the long haul it turned out nice.

Thanks, what would you seal it with prior to grouting? We haven't re grouted it yet but were told to seal it after it was grouted. The tiles are marble, travertine and you are right, crackled glass.

I have had these on my shower wall. just use a regular sealer that you would use for stone. 511 or aqua mix should be fine.

don't ever use any cleaner that isn't meant for stone in that shower. even the 'green' stuff. get a stone safe cleaner. I like StonePro Crystal Clean. i use in on my marble shower.

We would never, ever stain grout. Bad bandaid. Glad you were able to remove and now replace. We would seal with Miracle Porous Plus at completion. Carry on and enjoy your new space.

Cinar Interiors. Grout does not bond properly to sealed tiles. Sealer is the final protection, applied after caulk also.

Any other pros care to weigh in on whether to seal the cracked glass tiles before grouting? We were not planning on it. We will, of course, seal after grouting because we have the marble and travertine tiles in there.
Thanks.

DO NOT. you risk sealer dripping down sides of what 200 tiles? and becoming a bigger issue of what we call bondbreaker. Pay close attention to careful cleanup focus on proper grouting technique and prepare for some grout coloration of crackle(s) Do wait for full cure before sealing after. A few have mentioned sealer( Brand/type) make sure to use the same sealer your clearly skilled tile professional used originally(if presealed)

Thanks Tundra, I'm going with your advice and trust in my installer as well.

wait, I thought it was already grouted again? that's why I thought you were asking about the sealer. yes, absolutely wait until it's grouted and it's dry.

However, sometimes w/those crackle glass tiles, if they aren't sealed prior, the grout can cloud the glass because it gets into the little cracks. Since you've already grouted once, I'm guessing this didn't happen.

If he's using an epoxy or acrylic grout, they already are stain proof and a sealer is useless. but for that crackle glass, you will need to get some sealer on those, as well as the natural stone.

I've been known to hand seal tiles one-by-one with sealer, carefully avoiding any drips down the sides. you could use a few Qtips dipped in sealer to get the crackle glass and wipe w/a clean rag.

I'm glad that it worked out for you, lcita. if you have any future issues with it, let your tile-setter know. Best wishes.

I would use a grout release first, grout and then seal. But you can use any topical sealer prior to and it will act as a grout release.

Seal the top of the product, not the sides fixer687. And yes, you have the ability to control how much sealer is applied.

Sealer disperses almost instantly and beyond control. Where it terminates, there will be poor adhesion. I bench tested this years ago. Also, silicone caulk is not compatable with sealed tile either or irself for that matter.