How to Rebuild a Bathroom

If you’re creating a brand-new bathroom, new tiling will inevitably be involved. But if you’re doing a simpler renovation that does not involve new tiling, you can freshen up the look of an old tiled surface tremendously just by adding a new layer of grout. This is especially important if you’re spending a lot of time and effort on other parts of your bathroom, such as new fixtures and cabinets, and the worn-out look of tiles becomes even more pronounced. Cleaning can only do so much; in many cases, you need to go in there and actually remove the old grout, and replace it with new.

Many people dream of quicker fixes to this problem. I have seen, for instance, ”grout-painting kits” that purport to allow you to change the look of your bathroom simply with an artist’s paintbrush. Save your money: It will not last longer than a few months. Others try to get by with the slapdash approach of applying grout to touch up areas where the old grout has fallen out. Or better yet, they try to slather a grout “veneer” over the top of the old grout to give it a newer appearance. This, too, is folly: New grout will simply not stick to old, and you’ll end up wasting both your time and money. The only solution is to remove the old grout completely, then start over again.

When I mention grout removal, people instantly imagine kneeling for hours on end while they hand chisel the old grout away. True, this is one approach that has worked through the centuries. It is performed with a grout tool that literally resembles a toothbrush with a hard blade, which allows you to hand-scrape the old grout away. By the end of that project you’ll not only vow never to do it again, but you’ll either have tennis elbow or bursitis from all that scrubbing. A far better approach is to buy one of the most versatile power tools of all: a mini-rotary tool, such as those produced by Dremel. This handheld tool resembles a dental drill on steroids. And the company invented an attachment a few years ago specifically to help with grout removal.

This tool is held in your hand on a slight angle, almost like a gigantic pencil. The bit inserted in the end is then run up and down along the grout lines, where it literally just grinds them right out of the joints. You’ve got to be cautious, however, because the bit will also cut into the edges of the tile if you’re not careful. Once you’ve finished with the tool, there is still a little bit of grout left that has to be removed by hand, but the task goes far quicker than the old-fashioned way.

Now that we’ve got the tile, plumbing, and ventilation systems in place, let’s take a look at the core of the bathroom: the tubs, showers, toilets, and sinks, which give this room its purpose.