Bathroom regrouting in Singapore: when do you need it, and what does it cost?

Bathroom regrouting in Singapore: clean or regrout?

Not every dark joint needs new grout. HDB's home care guide on floor finishes says loosened tile grout comes from excessive use of concentrated tile cleaner and wear and tear. So grout wears out with age and with heavy cleaning, and once it has come loose, no amount of scrubbing will put it back.

Black tile joints may only be stained on the surface. Start with a proper clean. If the colour lifts and the grout underneath is firm, the joint needs cleaning, not regrouting. The guide on how to clean tile grout walks through the steps.

It is time to regrout tiles when the joints stay dark after a careful clean, or when the grout crumbles, cracks, feels soft or has gone missing in places. A quick check is to run a fingernail along a few joints. Firm grout is a cleaning job; grout that powders or flakes away is a regrouting job.

What a regrouting job involves

HDB's floor finishes guide sets out the fix for loosened grout: use a stiff brush to loosen the joint grout, then reinstate the joints with suitable tile grout. That is the basic shape of the job, whether you patch a few joints yourself or hire a company for the whole floor.

Companies describe their own methods in more detail. CleanGrout says it removes old grout to depth rather than skimming new grout over it, then fills the joints with two-part epoxy, and its single bathroom package is done in one day. Regrout.sg includes grout removal and tile washing in its basic package.

Methods and inclusions differ, so put the same questions to each company you are comparing. Ask how deep it removes the old grout, which grout goes back in, whether tile washing is included, whether the walls are covered or only the floor, and how soon you can use the shower again afterwards. Clear answers make the quotes easier to compare.

Published rates for one bathroom

Three companies print a rate for regrouting one bathroom. The rates below are listed as printed on each company's own page, from lowest to highest.

PRINTED BY THE COMPANIES

Printed rates for regrouting one bathroom

From lowest to highest, the printed one-bathroom regrouting rates below run from S$50 to S$488. The middle printed rate is S$240, one company's own figure, not an average. Each line covers a slightly different job, and no figure is a quote.

Rates in SGD as each company prints them on its own page, lowest first. "From" marks a starting price. Check the source for what is included.

Company	What the price covers, as printed	Rate	Source
Fix It Papa	Bathroom Regrouting, printed as an estimate without a unit	From S$50	fixitpapa.sg
Regrout.sg	Bath 1, HDB / BTO, labour and grout included, full-floor bathrooms only	S$240	regrout-sg.webflow.io
CleanGrout	Single Bathroom, up to 50 sqft, tile 300x300 or smaller; tariff price printed as S$530	S$488	cleangrout.sg

The middle of these three printed rates is S$240, from Regrout.sg. That is the middle company's rate, not a calculated figure. The same price table prints S$280 for a condo or executive condominium bathroom and S$320 for a landed home, and its header also reads "no GST". Fix It Papa says its prices are estimates, so treat its "from" figure as a starting point rather than a quote.

Grout Specialist prints S$800 as a minimum rate for 2 toilets, floor only. That line covers two bathrooms, not one, so it is not part of the middle figure above.

Cement or epoxy grout

CleanGrout uses two-part epoxy, gives a 5-year written warranty, prints S$300 to re-do cement grout and S$488 for epoxy in a single bathroom, and says non-epoxy grout is less chemical- and stain-resistant. If you are weighing up an epoxy grout bathroom job, ask each company which grout its quote is for, so you compare like with like. Ask what any warranty covers, too, and get it in writing.

Whichever grout you choose, deal with mould first. Black mould in the joints should be cleaned before any regrouting starts, so the new grout does not go in beside growth that is still there. The guide on how to remove bathroom mould covers the cleaning.

Silicone and other jobs at the same time

Grout is not the only seal in a bathroom. The silicone around the basin and shower also ages, and tired silicone spoils the look of freshly regrouted tiles.

Replace tired silicone around the basin and shower at the same visit as the regrouting. One visit means one round of disruption instead of two, and the whole bathroom ends up with fresh joints at the same time. The guide on silicone sealant replacement explains what that job involves.

When you ask for quotes, list everything you want done, such as the floor, the walls and the silicone, so each company prices the same scope. Ask whether silicone work is included or priced separately.

When it is more than grout

HDB says popping tiles come from expansion and contraction, through thermal movement and water absorption, and that cracked tiles may need re-tiling. New grout around a tile that is lifting or cracked does not deal with the tile itself. If tiles are lifting, read the guide on floor tiles popping before you book any grout work.

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