Should I replace the damaged floor or just the grout? What kind of grout do you suggest and how to proceed? Thank you.
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2Looks to me like the tiles are chipped and cracked. Even if you were to replace the grout, the joints are far too narrow to even cut out with a diamond blade. These almost looked like vinyl tiles since there is practically no joint, but the crack shows otherwise.– Gary BakCommented Sep 24, 2018 at 22:08
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2 Answers
The right way: pull up the tiles, fix the underlying problem (flexing floor maybe?), reinstall. This will take more time/money but will fix the issue better, longer.
The cheap way: Fill the gaps with tile epoxy. You clean the damaged area, mix the resin, add color to match the tile, and fill in the crack. Depending on your skill, it may be obvious up close, will probably last 6 months - 2 years, and possibly will look worse over time. but it's cheaper and a lot less time.
Looks like Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT). I doubt if there is grout between the tiles.
The edges of the tiles are chipping because the subfloor is flexing too much. This may be from the subfloor spanning too far or dryrot has decayed the subfloor.
You’ll need to replace the tile and check the subfloor and underlayment. Before you remove the tile, you should check to make sure it’s not asbestos or the glue is not asbestos. (Most asbestos tiles are 9” x 9” square, but there are other types too.)
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These tiles are made of marble and they are thick around 2.5 cm.– isarCommented Sep 26, 2018 at 17:43
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@isar Oops...my mistake. They are so uniformly installed, they look like VCT. However, the problem isn’t the grout...it’s movement. When the floor moves up and down, each tile can slide past each other causing the edges to crack and chip. In fact, I now see a crack in a tile. This is definitely caused from deflection. I suspect there’s some dryrot that allows the tile to sag.– Lee SamCommented Sep 26, 2018 at 17:53