Our entire living area is tiled and in some spots the grout is cracking up. What are my alternatives - can I slow down this process? Thanks!
Kevin DeArmond is a great person to call about this. He's honest and could tell you your options. he's helped a lot of mamas on here. ###-###-####
Fixing the grout is super easy just match the color @ home depot or a tile store. Mix it with water to a consistency of smooth mud. Use a putty knife or your hands whichever works for u squish it into the cracks and the wipe excess with a wet sponge. If its too hard to push into the cracks add more water if its too runny and coming out of the crack to easily when you wipe it with the sponge add some more powder. Just make sure u come back over and make sure u didn't leave any grout on the tile surface before it dries.
The others are right!! I am not from Texas and all my neighbors have told me the same thing...water your foundation. I have the same problem with my tiles and I can tell you right now....it is your foundation.
Can you please post when you re do your grout? I need to do the same but I am not sure how it is done.
You indicated it is just the grout and not the tiles, if this is the case it could be just a poorly mixed grout. I would call someone like the grout doctor to come in and provide you with an estimate, and they can indicate whether it is something more problematic, or something as simple as needing to regrout.
sounds like your foundation is shifting. the first thing to do is to be sure you are watering your lawn properly. if you haven't already get some soaker hoses and put them around your house, let it drip all night. That should really help the problem. Then just re-grout. If you have cracked tiles replace them, but keep your foundation watered. This is just part of living in Texas.
This either means one or both of two things: your house is moving ever so slightly but just enough to crack the grout (cracked tiles too?) and/or the grout was poorly installed (bad mixture or wrong kind). It's not a difficult job to replace the grout, but does take time. You'll want to get up as much of the old grount as possible before putting in new grout. But the house shifting may just cause it to crack again. Welcome to North Texas, where we water our lawns to keep our houses still.
Buy a grout removal tool, colored grout and grout sealer from Lowes. After removing the old grout, fill in the spots with new grout, and after one week use grout sealer to protect the grout. Any time you have grout this can happen, just from your home shifting. It is easy to replace the grout...just a pain to have to mess around with it when life is busy enough. Take Care! :o)
