How often do you reseal grout?

[Spryte]

On a shower? What about a tile floor?

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Yearly in the shower, when it stops beading on the floor lines.  It is a pain in the butt to clean stained grout, I'm in camp seal-a-lot.

I last sealed my tile floors two years ago.  

I check caulking frequently also.  I don't want to deal with water damage. 

Dang, I'm old. 

[Spryte]

17 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Yearly in the shower, when it stops beading on the floor lines.  It is a pain in the butt to clean stained grout, I'm in camp seal-a-lot.

I last sealed my tile floors two years ago.  

I check caulking frequently also.  I don't want to deal with water damage. 

Dang, I'm old. 

Ha! Old here, too.

Ok, so fessing up that I have never resealed our grout. Aaack! Nor the travertine bathroom floors. Ugh. Feeling like an idiot.

Any tips on what to use for the grout?

Edited November 1, 2021 by Spryte

[prairiewindmomma]

My best tip is to have your grout professionally cleaned or to buy a steamer and do it yourself. They have chemicals you can buy and you can scrub with a grout brush, but if you have any sort of square footage, a steam machine is the way to go.

Once the grout is clean and in good repair, you just take a little paintbrush, some paper towels, and listen to a good audiobook.  It has to cure, so you'll have to block off spaces while it cures for 48-72 hours (depends on ambient temperature and humidity level).  The paper towels are to wipe it off the towel in case you go crazy and over brush. I really like inexpensive watercolor brushes for painting sealant onto grout lines, fwiw.

If you haven't resealed before, you may have to do it quarterly for a while until everything is happy.  The humidity in bathrooms can really make grout prone to mildew otherwise.