Regular standard bathroom and shower grout (sanitised grout) is a cement-based product to fill the gaps between tiles.
Why do I need grout between my tiles, and do I have to have grout in my shower or bathroom?
Gaps between tiles are required to allow for movement within homes and buildings, and the grout is developed to fill these gaps to provide flexibility between the tiles to absorb this movement, but also as a filler to provide a solid surface to minimise water penetrating behind tiles. Sanitised grout is designed to withstand normal building movement, if we were to lay tiles without gaps, expansion and contraction would occur, and tiles would crack.
Sanitised grout contains biocides to provide resistance to a broad spectrum of moulds and bacteria.
Sanitised grout is porous, which means that it is not waterproof and will absorb moisture and small amounts of water through the surface. Sanitised grout has a sandy texture and can stain or discolour over time with normal use from water and cleaning.
Slight discolouration of grout can be normal and part of normal wear in a shower or a traffic area, as long as the grout remains in good condition and is not growing mould or missing/falling out.
If grout is constantly becoming mouldy or difficult to keep clean, or if the grout is falling out or tiles popping, this indicates a shower leak, which re-grouting will not address.
When the grout is falling out, going mouldy with regular cleaning, or there is water escaping the shower, causing water damage to skirting boards and plasterboard outside the shower, or the shower water is leaking through to the ceiling below the shower, the shower’s waterproofing membrane system has completely failed. Re-grouting will not do anything to help stop the leaking shower.
Grout relies on the integrity of the waterproofing membrane system behind the tiles in the shower if any component of the waterproofing system has not been installed in accordance with AS-3740-2010 Waterproofing of Domestic Wet Areas, the grout will fail.
Grout is not a maintenance item and does not require maintenance other than general weekly cleaning with a mild detergent and soft cloth after the initial installation.
Grout is not something that should ever require replacement.
If grout is missing, falling out, mouldy or soft, there is grout failure. Simply replacing the grout will not address the problems causing the grout to fail.
An in-depth assessment and inspection are required to get to the bottom of the cause of the grout deterioration so that an appropriate course of action to address the cause of the problem can be developed so that the shower leak does not continue and any water damage caused from the shower leak or failed grout can be repaired to protect the substrates and structure of the home to avoid further financial loss.
Epoxy grout is non-porous and will not absorb moisture or water.
The texture of epoxy grout is smooth, not gritty or sandy like sanitised grout; instead, to the touch feels more similar to the texture of a stone surface.
This makes maintenance and cleaning a breeze; all you need to keep it looking great is a weekly wipe-over using a soft cloth, a mild detergent (i.e. dishwashing liquid) and warm water.
Stains and mould will not penetrate epoxy grout. For this reason, epoxy grout is used as the industry standard in commercial applications such as hotels, shopping centres and swimming pools.
Epoxy grout is extremely durable and can withstand greater flexibility and building movement when compared to sanitised grout.
Epoxy grout is not prone to shrinkage, cracking or discolouration and is suitable for high-traffic areas.
Epoxy grout generally costs a considerable amount more to install than regular sanitised grout due to the higher production cost and the greater installation difficulty.
Epoxy grout takes a lot longer to apply than sanitised grout and also takes a lot more effort and skill. To provide a comparison, epoxy grout takes approximately 4-5 times longer to install than regular sanitised grout on a small area. This can mean up to a full day of grouting compared to an hour or two for a small shower or bathroom, resulting in much higher labour costs. This is all dependent on the size of the tiles used and the areas.
Epoxy grout often needs to be applied in stages as it cures quickly.
Thorough cleaning of each application area is required throughout the application to ensure that the epoxy does not set on the face of the tile and so that the epoxy grout is applied uniformly and consistently.
We get asked this question almost daily.
The good news is, no, you do not need epoxy grout in your shower or bathroom, except if your shower is used in a commercial setting, such as a hotel or in a public shower setting, such as a recreation facility.
When a shower is properly waterproofed, the grout will stay looking great and functioning, and there is no need for epoxy grout. Epoxy grout is complete overkill in a domestic setting.
Epoxy grout is a fantastic application in shopping centres and commercial areas where you have tens of thousands of pedestrians walking over tile grout with dirty shoes and needing something easy and fast to clean.
In your average shower in a household setting, the shower is only used 2-4 times daily, meaning that between cleans, there is not very much traffic that will cause a huge buildup of soap scum or dirt.
If you give the shower a weekly clean and wipe it down with mild detergent and warm water, and do not allow mould to multiply on surfaces, your shower will stay looking great and leak-free.
Whatever you do, never ever use harsh cleaning chemicals, abrasives or acidic cleaning products on your shower; the moment you begin using these products, you will be forever a slave to using them as they will strip the surfaces of the protective seals and damage the grouts, silicones and glass by penetrating the tiny pores and breaking down the properties of these products, allowing dirt, mould and soap scum to enter the pores and become trapped.
Glass has tiny microscopic pores which are sealed during the manufacturing process, as soon as the protective seal is stripped from protecting these pores, it will be an endless battle to keep the glass clean.
You will then need to keep using these harsh chemicals to make the surfaces appear clean.
The trick is to make sure you never strip the surfaces of the protective sealants or protective qualities, and your bathroom will look great for years to come.
If your shower is kept clean, it will never require serious maintenance other than the replacement of silicone every few years when the mould inhibitor chemicals within the silicone expire.
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