Regrout, Repair & Restoration
The master shower with the grout joint at the floor-to-wall corner that has read a hairline crack for two winters and finally started to bloom mildew through it. The kitchen backsplash with one cracked subway tile at the range hood where a cast-iron skillet kicked back from the burner. The 1980s entry tile with grout the color of a wet towel that nobody has sealed since the second owners signed the deed. The guest bath with a perfectly intact tile field that just looks tired because the grout is six shades darker than the day it was installed. Regrout, repair, and restoration is the Handis core tile trade for the work between a single-tile patch and a full re-tile — failing grout removed and replaced, change-of-plane joints recaulked with proper 100 percent silicone, single cracked tiles swapped out without breaking the neighbors, aged grout color-sealed back to a finished look, and the whole tile field deep-cleaned and re-sealed once a decade. No licensed-trade handoff on any of it — Handis self-performs every step end to end. From $350 for a single wall or backsplash tile swap up to $1,800 for a double-shower or master-and-guest combination regrout and recaulk.
Services
What Regrout, Repair & Restoration Covers
Regrout, repair, and restoration is the residential tile-trade family for the work that keeps an existing tile field in service for another decade — failing grout removed and replaced, perimeter and change-of-plane joints recaulked, single cracked tiles spot-swapped, aged grout color-sealed, and the field deep-cleaned and re-sealed on a maintenance cadence. Four service families, each with its own scope and price floor, every one a Handis-only visit with no licensed-plumber or licensed-electrician sub in the loop. We are honest on the booking call about which scope finishes in a single visit and which needs the thinset and grout cure (24 hours each) before the next return.
Shower Regrout & Recaulk
Failing cementitious grout removed from the wall and floor joints with a Dremel oscillating tool or a Roberts grout saw, the joint vacuumed clean, fresh sanded or unsanded grout (matched to joint width) floated in, struck with a damp sponge, and hazed off — plus 100 percent silicone (GE Silicone II Kitchen & Bath, DAP Kwik Seal Ultra, or Mapei Mapesil T) at every change-of-plane joint where cementitious grout will crack within a year. The work that takes a tired shower back to a finished look in one to two visits and that pulls the next mildew bloom out by the roots. From $700 for a single shower recaulk up to $1,800 for a master plus guest combination.
Shower Regrout & Recaulk — Dremel grout removal, sanded or unsanded refill, 100 percent silicone
Grout Color Sealing
Aqua Mix Grout Colorant Sealer or MAPEI Color Refresh applied to existing cementitious grout in two coats to refresh the color, blend the field back to consistent, and seal the grout pore network in one product. The work for a tile floor or shower where the grout color has drifted over the years from mop water, body oil, and cleaning chemicals — a faster and cheaper path than full regrout when the existing grout is structurally sound. From $500 for a single bathroom or kitchen up to $1,300 for a whole-house combination of two baths and a kitchen.
Grout Color Sealing — Aqua Mix Colorant Sealer, MAPEI Color Refresh, two-coat application
Cracked Tile Replacement
Single cracked wall tile (kitchen backsplash, bath tub surround, accent wall), single cracked floor tile (kitchen, bath, entry, laundry), or chipped bullnose at an exposed edge — removed without breaking the neighbors with grout-saw perimeter isolation and an oscillating multi-tool, substrate cleaned to bonding surface, replacement set in fresh Mapei Ultraflex 2 or Custom Versabond thinset, regrouted in matched color and joint width. Replacement tile from owner attic stock first, then Daltile, Bedrosians, or Pental Surfaces for current production, or Seattle tile boneyards for discontinued lines. From $350 for a single wall or backsplash tile up to $1,200 for a multi-tile floor spot repair.
Cracked Tile Replacement — wall, backsplash, floor tile spot replacement, matched stock sourcing
Tile Deep-Clean & Seal
Oxygen-based grout cleaner (Aqua Mix Heavy-Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner, MAPEI UltraCare Heavy Duty Cleaner) applied to the field, agitated with a stiff-bristle grout brush or a Drill Brush attachment on a corded drill, rinsed clean, and the dry field sealed with two coats of a penetrating sealer (Aqua Mix Sealer''s Choice Gold, TileLab SurfaceGard, or StoneTech BulletProof for natural stone). The annual maintenance pass that resets a kitchen, bath, entry, or mudroom tile floor and keeps the grout from absorbing the next decade of grit. From $400 for a single bathroom up to $1,000 for whole-house kitchen plus two baths.
Tile Deep-Clean & Seal — oxygen cleaner, grout-brush agitation, two-coat penetrating sealer
Regrout, Repair & Restoration Pricing
Final pricing depends on the scope selected, the room size, the tile and grout condition, and whether discontinued-tile sourcing is needed for a spot replacement. Each child page lists detailed pricing for that service family. Sealer and color-matched grout product surcharges are passed through transparently with the line item named. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the room and the scope — we will quote the regrout, the recaulk, and the seal line by line, no sub trade in the loop.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Regrout & Restoration
Most shower regrouts we are asked to do followed a previous handyman's attempt to "freshen up" the grout with a coat of caulk smeared over the existing failing joint. The caulk reads okay for a week and then peels because it was bonded to a wet, contaminated, failing grout substrate instead of to clean tile edges. A proper regrout removes every gram of failing grout down to clean tile, vacuums the joint, then refills with grout matched to the joint width and grout product line. The recaulk uses 100 percent silicone at change-of-plane joints because every change-of-plane joint will crack a cementitious grout within a year — silicone moves with the building. Handis does both steps every time, no shortcuts.
Failing grout fully removed, not surface-covered
Every regrout starts with full mechanical removal of the failing grout down to clean tile edges with a Dremel oscillating tool, a Roberts grout saw, or a carbide grout blade. The joint is vacuumed clean before the fresh grout goes in. We do not skim a layer of fresh grout over an old joint — fresh grout bonded to a failing substrate fails the same way within months. The cost difference between a real regrout and a paint-on cover-up is a single visit; the lifespan difference is ten years.
100 percent silicone at every change-of-plane joint
Cementitious grout cracks at every change-of-plane joint (floor-to-wall, wall-to-wall, curb-to-floor, edge-of-niche) within a year because the building moves on those lines and rigid grout cannot absorb the movement. We replace cementitious grout in those joints with 100 percent silicone (GE Silicone II Kitchen & Bath, DAP Kwik Seal Ultra, or Mapei Mapesil T) that flexes with the building. The bead is masked with painter's tape, tooled with a wet finger, and pulled clean. The fix lasts a decade.
Color matching grout to the aged field — sample swatch first
Fresh grout cures three to six shades lighter than aged grout because the aged grout has absorbed years of mop water, body oil, and cleaning chemicals. We bring the closest color from the product line (Mapei Keracolor S, Custom Polyblend Sanded, Laticrete Permacolor Select) and run a sample swatch on the new joint before we commit — so the new grout cures to a color that blends with the field, not stands out as a brighter line.
Single-tile spot replacement without breaking the neighbors
Cracked wall, backsplash, or floor tile removed with the same technique on every visit — grout-saw the perimeter joints down to substrate to isolate the tile, score the tile with an oscillating multi-tool working from center outward, pop the tile in pieces with a chisel and a hammer working from the joint outward. Eight out of ten times the failed tile comes out clean and every neighbor is intact. The other two times we knew on the tap-test that a neighbor would come out too, and the quote named it before we started.
Honest about when restoration finishes the job and when a re-tile is the right call
A tile field with hairline cracks in a handful of joints, a single cracked tile, or aged grout that just needs color and seal is the right scope for restoration — we tell you on arrival and quote the work. A tile field with hollow tiles in more than 30 percent of the area, an active leak behind the tile, or substrate damage from a long-term moisture event is past restoration scope; we route to the tile floor repair page for floors with substrate work, or to bathroom updates waterproofing-and-repair for shower or tub-surround work. The honest call now saves the repeat visit later.
Estimate
Tell us the room (master shower, guest shower, kitchen floor, bath floor, entry, mudroom, laundry), the scope you have in mind (regrout, recaulk, color seal, cracked-tile swap, deep-clean and seal), and the rough age of the tile field. Send phone photos if you can — close-ups of the cracked grout joint or the cracked tile help us scope accurately. We send a clear estimate with each line item named.
What Our Customers Say
Recent regrout, repair, and restoration reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
Master shower regrout and recaulk after a previous handyman had smeared caulk over the failing grout in the floor-to-wall corners. Handis removed every gram of the old grout and the old caulk, refilled the field joints with sanded grout matched to our existing color, ran fresh silicone at every change-of-plane joint. Two years later still tight and no mildew bloom anywhere.
Single cracked tile on our kitchen backsplash right next to the range hood. A cast-iron skillet had kicked back from the burner and chipped it. The tech grout-sawed the perimeter, removed the cracked tile without touching either neighbor, set a replacement from the original installer's leftover stock we found in the basement, regrouted in matched color. Invisible patch in one visit.
Grout color sealing on the original 1985 entry tile that had aged to nearly black between the joints. Tech applied Aqua Mix Grout Colorant in a charcoal that pulled the whole floor back to a consistent finished look. Two-coat application across about 80 square feet, done in one afternoon. The entry looks ten years younger and it cost a fraction of what a regrout would have been.
Tile deep-clean and seal on our kitchen and both baths. We had not sealed any of the grout since the houses was built fourteen years ago. Tech ran oxygen-based grout cleaner with a Drill Brush attachment, rinsed everything clean, came back two days later and applied two coats of penetrating sealer across every joint. Mop water beads up now where it used to soak in immediately.
Master and guest shower regrout and recaulk in the same project. They split it across two visits to let the master cure before they did the guest bath. Five years of accumulated mildew at every change-of-plane joint, all of it gone now. The silicone bead at the floor-to-wall corners is the tightest, cleanest silicone I have ever seen on a shower.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis tile regrout, repair, and restoration — scope, pricing, materials, color matching, and how the work differs from a full re-tile.