Grout Remover

[sdesha]

Good morning Entegra Family,

Well, I wouild like some advice, I got an estimate to remove the porcelain tile in the coach for around 23,000.00. I know that enter charges 3.00 a tile. So now my option is to remove the grout and replace it with a little darker color. There is a piece of tile that is raised slightly at the half bath entry door (bought it that way).

Has anyone attemtped to remove the grout and replace with either the same color or a darker color or actually remove the tile? I would like to actually replace the tile with bamboo flooring.

The service department stated that they believe that 400 sq feet of tile is what is used.

Thoughts?

Thank you

[Nowabeachbum]

I assume the 23,000. is for removing and replacing? Removing grout can be done but is probably not realistic. You should have extra tile for the one that needs to be replaced. This is a tough project, perhaps more quotes should be gotten.

[yeloduster]

A quote of $23000 dollars for 400 sq ft seems extremely high. I would expect closer to $10000 for high end tile and excellent installation.

Re-grouting is possible and a much less expensive option. Expect less than $5000 to re-grout. This varies according to tile size. Smaller tile require more labor. Re-grouting doesn't fix your raised tile. Replacing that tile is probably the only option and finding matching tile might be impossible.

[brobox]

If that quote was from an RV dealer, they may have doubled a floor company's estimate. If it was from a floor company, I would get a second bid. Your quote is $57.50 a sq ft. We replaced the entire kitchen in our S&B including the floor for a only few thousand more.
Gary is correct on the spare tile. On the 14's, Entegra included a box of spare tiles on the passenger side basement ceiling in a welded frame large enough to hold a box of tile. IIRC it's in the second compartment.

[sdesha]

the quote did not specify remove and replace, I to agree that it is extremtly high, want to make money which I understand, but 23,000 dollars, and I was further told it would take 2 months. I was given a verbal quote of 7,000.00 to remove and replace.

This was the same repair facility that wanted to charge me 568.00 of an aqua hot service.

[RubiconTrail]

Yup. Walk away from that one. My advice is to find a reputable residential flooring company (tilesetter) to do the job if you are going to replace with tile. If you want bamboo, which is a good choice, I would find a tile company to remove and a flooring company to replace.

Keep in mind that any vertical trim that reaches the floor (including door jambs) will likely have to be removed and replaced with new as they will likely be short by 1/4" or so.

Again, this is a big project.

[arcaguy]

Yikes! I have installed/repaired ceramic tile in several of my rental units. I don't think I would have to spend $23,000 to replace all of them from scratch. There is such a thing as a grout saw which can be purchased from your local home improvement store for a few bucks. They work fine but it is a manual process so it would take a while. Dremel also makes a bit for their tool which will remove grout but I prefer the manual saw as you are less liable to damage the tile. As to the raised tile if you want to replace it you should saw out all of the grout around it and then very, very carefully use a cold chisel to break up the offending tile. The reason to remove the grout is so you don't damage adjacent tiles. Even then there are no guarantees. You would then need to grind off any remaining adhesive (thinset or whatever) to get the tile back to level when installed.


As to replacing it with bamboo, it may be easier to remove all of the tile, get the floor as smooth as possible (bondo works pretty well for a filler) and then put down some 1/8" luan or similar material with plenty of screws and type 1 ceramic tile adhesive and then put the new floor on top. This will give you a level surface from which to work and take up some of the thickness you will lose. Good luck.

[brobox]

Suzzanne, time to find another service facility. I think they are really trying to take advantage of you. It is amazing what you can have done and they come to you at a fraction of your quoted prices. Go direct to the source and not an RV repair facility.

[roadrunning]

That is an outrageous amount, I was in the tile and grout refurbishing business, if I understand what you're trying to accomplish it can be done for a lot less than that.

1. The grout can be cleaned and recolored to any color you want. ( there are 2 methods to do this. One of them permeates into the grout and becomes the grout color the other is simple putting a paint on top of the grout (stay away from this method)

2. The raised tile can be fixed if in fact you do have the tiles that were mentioned above in the 1st compartment passenger side of the coach.

Don't know where you located but if it's near Atlanta or N.C. I can set it with some outstanding people also if you want to PM me I can send you some pictures of jobs I've done before and after to help you in the process or we can talk over the phone.
This all could be done in a day and for $2-$3k.
I do want to caution you to not just call some franchises and have them do it as we used to get calls to repair there work all the time.

Good luck

[Tlmr4784]

Definitely a inflated quotation.
I would find reputable, local flooring contractor and get another bid.
Always get at least three,(3), estimates.
In my opinion quality vinyl plank is the way to go for a motorhome.
The material you select, grade, quality, is only half the job.
Proper preparation can be more important.
Choose your contractor carefully.
Hope this helps.

[Cat]

Isn't your tile bedded on to your heated flooring? I'm not sure how the heated floor is installed in a RV. But in a residential home it is. That would explain why it is so expensive.

[450Donn]

There is also hand held grout removal tools. They usually use a carbide insert mounted to a handle. They work quite well, but are labor intensive. Once you have a tile off the floor another scraper and the glue, yes glue can be scrapped off fairly easily. If this is in an RV adding plywood or anything else to the floor is probably not going to work.

[sdesha]

I got a quote to remove the grout for 1400.00 and 800 to re-grout the entire coach. I watched the Tile guy (who has been doing this for 20 yrs), take a diamond bit and removed the grout on one side in 20 seconds, first he used a bit that wouldn't scratch the surface of the grout not sure what the tool was but it worked really well, I have Dremel tool at my home in Florida, I can do it my self, but if I screw up, I would have to call the tile guy anyway. Can't spell worth a hoot, so

Thoughts?

[Billboard]

If you just want darker grout just dye it with concrete stain