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How to Regrout Bathroom Tile

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Written & researched by Priya Anand DIY & Tools Editor
Updated August 2026
Close-up detail of the material being worked in a bathroom project, in warm late-afternoon light

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Regrouting bathroom tile is a beginner-friendly job that trades effort for a big cosmetic payoff; expect a weekend for a shower surround once you add cure time, and materials of only $30 to $60. The work itself is not technical, just patient: rake out the old grout, float in the new, and seal it. No permit or pro is needed for surface regrouting. The one caution is that if grout is failing because water got behind the tile or the floor flexes, regrouting only hides a bigger problem, so diagnose why it failed before you refill.

How to Re-Grout Tiles — Tile Warehouse

Step-by-step: raking out and regrouting

  1. Rake out the old grout. Run a grout saw, oscillating multi-tool with a grout blade, or a carbide grout rake down each joint, removing grout to about two-thirds of the tile depth. Keep the blade centered so you do not chip the glazed tile edges. Vacuum the dust out of the joints.
  2. Clean and dry the joints. Scrub the empty joints and tile faces with a stiff brush, rinse, and let everything dry completely. New grout will not bond to dust, soap film or a damp joint.
  3. Cut out the corner and edge joints separately. The inside vertical corners and the horizontal joint where tile meets the tub or floor should be left empty for silicone, not grout. Mark them so you do not fill them by habit.
  4. Mix the grout. Add powder to water (or use premixed) to a smooth peanut-butter consistency with no dry lumps. Let it slake for the time on the bag, usually about 10 minutes, then remix briefly. Mix only what you can use in 20 to 30 minutes.
  5. Float it in. Load a rubber grout float and push grout diagonally across the joints at a 45-degree angle so it packs fully into each gap. Work a few square feet at a time, then scrape the excess off with the float held on edge.
  6. Tool and clean the joints. After the grout firms up (about 15 to 20 minutes, when your thumb leaves only a faint print), wipe diagonally with a barely damp sponge, rinsing often, to strike the joints to a uniform depth and clear the tile faces. Do not flood it.
  7. Buff off the haze. Once the surface hazes over, buff the tile clean with a dry microfiber cloth. A stubborn haze wipes off with a haze remover the next day.
  8. Caulk the movement joints. Fill the corners and the tile-to-tub joint you left empty with a matching mildew-resistant silicone, tooled to a clean concave line.
  9. Cure, then seal. Let the grout cure 48 to 72 hours, then apply a penetrating sealer to cement grout, wipe on and buff off the excess. Wait for full cure before showering.
Over-the-shoulder view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom, in warm evening lamplight

Tools and materials

You need a grout removal tool (an oscillating tool with a grout blade is fastest), a rubber grout float, grout sponges, a bucket, sanded or unsanded grout matched to your joint width, mildew-resistant silicone for the corners, and a penetrating grout sealer for cement grout. A pair of knee pads and a shop vacuum make the raking bearable. If humidity is what wrecked the last grout job, tackling ventilation at the same time pays off: see our exhaust fan roundup, and a shower filter cuts the hard-water scale that stains fresh grout gray.

Wide environmental view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom, in soft overcast light

Mistakes that ruin a regrout

Over-the-shoulder view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom, in soft early-morning light

When it is more than a regrout

Surface regrouting is safe DIY. Stop and reassess if grout is failing across a whole floor or wall, if tiles sound hollow when tapped, or if you find soft, dark or musty areas, because those point to water behind the tile or a flexing subfloor that no amount of new grout will fix. Waterproofing behind wet-area tile is governed by tile-industry standards and local code, and a full shower rebuild is a job for a tile pro. Homes built before 1978 can have lead in old glazes and grout dust; do not create dust dry, and follow lead-safe practices.

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More from this hub: Bathroom · Resealing a shower · Replacing a cracked tile · Tiling a bathroom floor · Best shower filters · How we rank

Straight Answers

Frequently Asked

Can you put new grout over old grout?

Not directly, and not more than a skim. New grout needs at least 1/8 inch of depth and a clean, sound surface to bond to, so a thin smear over intact old grout will not hold and will crack or flake within months. You have to rake the old grout out to roughly two-thirds of the tile thickness first. The only version of grouting over grout that works is a grout-refresh coating or colorant applied to still-solid joints purely to change the color, which is a cosmetic fix, not a repair for crumbling or missing grout.

Should I use sanded or unsanded grout in a bathroom?

Match it to the joint width, not the room. Use sanded grout for joints 1/8 inch and wider, because the sand gives it strength and resists shrinkage cracking in a wide gap. Use unsanded grout for joints narrower than 1/8 inch and on polished or soft stone tile that sand would scratch. Most floor tile takes sanded; many wall and mosaic installations take unsanded. For a shower floor or a heavy-wet area, many pros now choose an epoxy grout, which is harder to work but is waterproof and never needs sealing.

Do you need to seal grout after regrouting?

Cement-based grout, yes; epoxy grout, no. Standard sanded and unsanded grout is porous and will absorb water, soap and stains unless you seal it, so apply a penetrating grout sealer after the grout has fully cured, which is typically 48 to 72 hours, not just dried to the touch. Wipe the sealer on, let it soak, and buff off the excess. Reseal cement grout about once a year in a shower. Epoxy grout is inherently non-porous and stain-resistant, which is exactly why people accept its trickier working time in wet zones.

How long does grout need to cure before you can shower?

Give it a full 48 to 72 hours before exposing it to water, even though the surface feels dry within a few hours. Grout dries from the outside in, and using the shower too soon washes uncured cement out of the joints and leaves them weak and pitted. If you sealed the grout, follow the sealer cure time on top of that. In a cold or humid bathroom, err toward the longer end. Rushing the cure is the most common reason a fresh regrout job fails at the shower floor within a season.

Why does bathroom grout keep cracking and falling out?

Movement is almost always the cause. Grout is rigid and cannot flex, so any structural movement, a bouncy floor, or the natural expansion at a change of plane cracks it. The classic mistake is grouting the inside corners and the joint where the wall tile meets the tub or floor; those junctions move and must be filled with flexible silicone caulk, not grout. If grout is crumbling across a whole field, suspect a deflecting subfloor or water that got behind the tile and undermined the bond, which is a bigger repair than a regrout.