Removing ceramic tile grout in a large area?

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Farmer17

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I'm doing some service work for a restaurant chain and my guys are going in at night and removing the old grout in the kitchen floor and re-grouting it. We use grinders mostly but they kick up a lot of dust and are tiring and not very precise and even with another guy holding a shopvac hose by the grinder it still makes a big mess. We have also tried reciprocating saws with special blades but they are pretty slow. I know they make a "FLex tool" that looks like a mini circular saw with a shopvac hose attachment that is supposed to work pretty well, but does anyone know of any power tools that work well at removing large quantities of grout?
 
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Have you searched for,,,tile grout remover?

Yup search it the power tools come up.
 
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I have used a circular saw with a diamond blade. It's still dusty but you can rig a vacuum hose to it easier than a grinder. You can also control the depth of the cut easier. Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
perryhd said:
I have used a circular saw with a diamond blade. It's still dusty but you can rig a vacuum hose to it easier than a grinder. You can also control the depth of the cut easier. Hope this helps. Good luck.
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Get a circular saw with a diamond blade which requires water as the lubricant for the blade and there will be no dust.
 
I have one of these... I haven't done any grout removal, but it does a hundred different things...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9xGeidpQm4[/ame]

JIM...........
 
Comrad said:
Oscillating tool is the way to go.
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We have oscillating tools and they are great in tight areas but in large areas they are pretty slow. I thinking what would be ideal would be a small 4-5" circular saw with a guide and a vacuum attachment.
 
BigBoy99 said:
Get a circular saw with a diamond blade which requires water as the lubricant for the blade and there will be no dust.
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Water works good for keeping the dust down but it can be ruff on the saw.
 
not a easy job you also have to worry about chipping the tile. Depending on how deep your grout is in some cases you may be able to acid wash tile and grout let dry then put a coat of grout over the existing grout may come out a little thicker depends on your taste
 
If it's not too late I would go back and renegotiate the contract...let them get somebody else to do the grout!!!! That failing, here is what I did...I had to "regrout" my bathroom and tried everything. I settled on a diamond blade in a worm drive saw to get most of it. Then I bought an oscillating tool with a diamond coated half round blade to get the little bit left behind and straighten up the lines. It is nasty,messy, dusty and time consuming, that's just the way it is. Don't expect anything to change just because you are the guy doing it. Kinda like a divorce...you go into it knowing you are going to lose at the very least 1/2 to 3/4 of your stuff.
Moral of the story...if there's two things in this world you might want to steer clear of, it's tile grout and women...you are gonna lose if you don't!!!!
 
I don't do tile, I sub it out. I have regrouted some tile on small
jobs. I have about every power tool you can think of. I have used
Roto-Zip, Fienmiester, Die Grinders & various rotary grinders.
The 4" Dewalt does the best, but I'm talking small job. On big
job I would be looking into air grinders. I hope that you don't
loose your shirt on under bid. I would say you really have some
thing to "Grout" about.
 
msinc said:
If it's not too late I would go back and renegotiate the contract...let them get somebody else to do the grout!!!! That failing, here is what I did...I had to "regrout" my bathroom and tried everything. I settled on a diamond blade in a worm drive saw to get most of it. Then I bought an oscillating tool with a diamond coated half round blade to get the little bit left behind and straighten up the lines. It is nasty,messy, dusty and time consuming, that's just the way it is. Don't expect anything to change just because you are the guy doing it. Kinda like a divorce...you go into it knowing you are going to lose at the very least 1/2 to 3/4 of your stuff.
Moral of the story...if there's two things in this world you might want to steer clear of, it's tile grout and women...you are gonna lose if you don't!!!!
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=================

I'm with this guy. I suggest you offer them $500 to let you out of this part of the contract.
 
gunnails said:
=================

I'm with this guy. I suggest you offer them $500 to let you out of this part of the contract.
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You know, all B.S. aside...if I had to do it all over again, I would walk in that 10X12 bathroom with a big sledge hammer and bust up all the GD floor tiles. Then sweep the floor clean and go get new tile. Seriously, all jokes aside, it is easier and faster to lay new tile and grout it than to dig out a bunch of grout and slop more in the grooves. Definitely less time consuming and probably just as cost effective.
I spent more time cleaning up the dust and listening to wifey than the rest of the job!!!!
 
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