Repairing Waterline Tile Grout

[joelq]

Hi all - I managed to get in the pool for the first time this season (the water just hit 70 degrees!) and noticed some portions of grout around the waterline tile above the water that needs some patching. I figured I could do this myself easily enough. Do I need special "pool grout"? Or can I use the same unsanded grout used in bathroom applications?

Thanks!

[Big_D]

You can go to Home Depot and get the waterproof grout, Polyblend I think, and it will work fine. Make sure the color is the same and that you did not seal the grout before. If the grout was sealed then you must remove at least some of the old grout in order to get the new to stick.

[jimlum]

You can go to Home Depot and get the waterproof grout, Polyblend I think, and it will work fine. Make sure the color is the same and that you did not seal the grout before. If the grout was sealed then you must remove at least some of the old grout in order to get the new to stick.

Big_D,

I also need to re-attach a couple of pieces of tile along the top edge of our spa (attached to the pool). We've tried a number of types of sanded grout, but the tiles keep re-popping out.

Do you or anyone else have any specific recommendations for what we can use, and that will "stick"?

Also, is just the grout enough, or are we suppose to use some kind of adhesive to glue the tile into place and THEN grout?

Thanks,
Jim

[Big_D]

Sorry for the slow reply, been overseas and cannot see the site from there.
Typically you use a thin set for setting the tiles in place, but you may have another issue if the tiles are popping off it could be they are under some kind off stress from movement or compression. If they are not under stress of some type go to HD and get the thin set used for shower / bathroom application that is waterproof to set the tiles. Then use waterproof grout for around the tile after the thin set dries. you probably need to drop the waterline and blend in the new grout to make sure it is not apparent where you replaced the tile. I have done this and re grouted a complete side in order to hide the new tiles with the old, it only took a few hours to do the whole project and looked perfect when done.
Thanks
Derek

[jimlum]

Big_D,

Thanks for responding.

I don't think that there is any stress (the tiles that loose are at the top edge of the spa area). We tried a couple of different sanded grouts before (from either HD or Lowes) but we used the same grout under (between the tile and the spa wall) the tiles, thinking the grout itself would be enough, so I guess that we need to use thinset instead, plus the grout between the tiles?

The sanded grout we have is called Laticrete Polyblend, I think.

If you know specifically which brand, etc. we can use for the "waterproof thinset" (the HD/Lowes people in this area don't seem to be very helpful), I'd really appreciate it if you'd post that info.

Thanks,
Jim

[jimlum]

Hi,

This is going to sound pretty dumb, but I've been searching this forum, and I'm wondering:

Is it possible that the reason those tiles that we tried to re-set last year didn't stay put is because we didn't use any "thinset" at all?

As I mentioned earlier, when we tried last year, we used the same stuff (sanded grout) UNDER the tile (between the tile and the wall) as well as between the tiles.

It looks like we should have used something(?) different, i.e., thinset to glue the tiles to the wall FIRST, and then use the sanded grout between the tiles after they'd been attached?

Jim