Epoxy Grout vs Caulk vs remove tile

[njhefalk@gmail.com]

I have a a wavy subway tile on the walls in my kitchen and bath. In the kitchen they properly installed the tile ontop of the white quartz counter top. In the bath the vanity top was NOT yet installed, when they did the tile.

White 1/16 EPOXY Grout was used!

NOW I have the choice of ripping out one row of tile and risking damage to the other tiles ( or to use silicone caulk. I am afraid the caulk will look like Crap in a few months Vs the bullet proof Quartz and epoxy it is bonding to.

My wife had the idea. to use some epoxy grout to fill the gap between the wavy tile and counter.

What do you all think of that idea?

[Davy]

Hi Eddie. Any changes of plane should be done with matching silicone. Normally, if it starts looking bad in a few years, we cut it out and replace it. Eventually, that joint will move, the silicone will flex, grout would crack.

[njhefalk@gmail.com]

Thanks for the reply, I understand epoxy grout is much stronger on cracking than normal grout. But it could still crack where the wavy tile wall meets the countertop. But then the other property of epoxy grout from what I understand is that it can be applied over existing epoxy grout, as it is sticky. So if the joint cracked I could reapply?

Comments?

[Davy]

Adding new grout on top of old grout is usually done when the grout is too low then you can safely add more to fill it in when using epoxy grout. If the joint is full, you don't have room to add any. When a grout joint cracks, the hairline crack appears between the countertop and grout or between the grout and the tiles. It might be possible to fill in the small crack with more grout, depends how big the crack is.

Compared to grout, Silicone usually lasts many years and it can be cut out with a sharp utility knife with less chance of scratching the tiles or countertop. The more movement you have in that joint, the more you'll have to replace it. If there's little to no movement, it may last as long as the tile job.

[njhefalk@gmail.com]

Hi,

How hard is it to remove 4 subway tiles that were grouted with epoxy?

Also, in my case the "grout line would be a slight bit higher than the counter so I could make an angle between the counter and the wall.

So i it cracked i could put more on? just to fill the crack? If i used grout?

[jadnashua]

Most all of the grouts, whether acrylic, cement, or epoxy based, have color particles in them and those may not squeeze into a narrow crack.

Silicone or an engineered movement joint is what is called for, otherwise, all bets are off.

On a counter, a crack could accumulate some crud that would be really hard to remove, and the contamination might be tough to get things to adhere to as well.

[Davy]

Eddie, I know we're not saying what you want to hear and you can do it any way you want. But there's a reason why silicone is recommended in that joint. If you grout it and nothing ever moves, you'll never have to change a thing. But most of the time that joint cracks when grouted. It might take a year or two or more but it eventually cracks.

[njhefalk@gmail.com]

So another option is to remove a row of tiles and put the counter under the tile and replace the tile notched out to sit on top of the counter.

How hard is it to remove 4 tiles..and leaving the one next to the schluter so as not to damage the schluter. with regular 1/16 in grout. it would be a piece of cake with normal grout but ? with Epoxy is this very hard to do?

[ss3964spd]

Some photos would be helpful, for me anyway, you can upload them from your computer using the paper clip icon above, or the "Manage Attachments" box below.

Nevertheless, you'd want to remove the grout from between the joints of the tile you want to remove and the ones you don't. You can use a hand held grout saw or an oscillating tool with appropriate blade - carefully. Then use a common nail punch and hammer to start chipping away. With those small tiles and tight joints I'd probably start in the middle of a tile. The small tip of the nail punch will fracture the tile and you can just continue like that. Wear safety glasses, natch.