LESLIE: Kyle in Indiana is having a tile situation. What’s happening?
KYLE: Hi. Yes, I have some tile on my kitchen floor and in a couple of places the grout is starting to come up. When I bought the house, they did leave some tiles and a bag of grout. Can this just be filled in or does it need to be replaced or more extensive work done to fix this?
LESLIE: Well, are you seeing actual damage to the tile or is it just the grout is breaking up and sort of moving away?
KYLE: Just the grout is starting to come away in a couple places on a couple of the tiles.
TOM: Well, I think that you certainly can mix up some of that grout and it’s great that you still have it. The one caution I would give to you is that even though it perhaps is the original grout and originally was the exact same …
LESLIE: It’s not going to match the wear and tear.
TOM: Yeah, it was the – originally the exact same color. The existing grout no doubt has gotten dirty over the years; so when you first put it in, you may find that it’s very obvious that it’s a patch but as it wears and as it gets dirtier over time and as you’re washing the floor, it’ll probably sort of melt right in there. So I think it’s great that you have the existing grout. I would mix some up into a paste-like consistency. I would go for sort of a toothpaste-like consistency and fill in those places. Make sure you get it as clean as possible before you do this and you should be good to go.
KYLE: OK. Great. Thanks a lot.
TOM: You’re welcome, Kyle. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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