A customer was in touch regarding the renovation of their their bathroom tiles and also the silicone around the bath in their tenement flat in Maryhill, Glasgow.

The grout around all the ceramic tiles in the room had become very stained, and the silicone around the bath and shower was mouldy and needed replacing. I had carried out previous work like this for many customers, so they could see reviews online and contacted me without hesitation. I was sent pictures of the room and was able to supply a quote and the customer agreed. Luckily, I was able to carry out the job within a week, before they had a new boiler fitted, so the work didn’t clash.

I started by spraying the grout with Tile Doctor Duo Clean as this is brilliant at removing grime, mould, build-up of cleaning products that accumulate over time in the shower area. The grout however had areas of deep-seated staining and would need more work.

The quickest way of renovating stained grout is to apply a grout colourant which is also much cheaper than re-grouting. Before applying the colourant, I started by scrubbing in a Pre-Treater to the grout. This prepares the surface for the colour itself and creates a surface that it can bond to. After 5-10 minutes scrubbing the grout, water was applied to remove the pre-treatment. I then removed the stained silicone around the bath, shower screen and corner wall area. It is good practice to go back over the areas to ensure all silicone has been removed. I then applied new silicone sealant to around the bath and shower areas with white mould resistant silicone. As a note, you should only use silicone which has been designed for use in bath and shower areas.

Recolouring Grout in a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom

Once the grout was dry and as clean as it could be, I applied a White Epoxy Grout Colourant along the grout lines with a small brush taking care to wipe off any excess from the tiles as I went. Only one bottle of colourant was needed and I have found baby wipes work well when wiping off the excess colourant.

The final step in the renovation of the bathroom walls and sealant was to strip out all the old mouldy silicone between the bath and the tiles and replace with new white mould resistant silicone, specifically for use in shower areas.

This process of recolouring grout and reaplacing silicone sealant completely transforms the look of the bathroom and leaves a new and fresh feeling. The grout which had been stained and patchy was now a consistent white colour which gives the impression the walls have just been tiled. The newly applied colourant forms an epoxy barrier over the existing grout which prevents dirt from becoming ingrained in the grouts surface and it’s much easier to clean!