Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bathroom and grout

Help Me Fix My Soap Dish

Smarson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:46:38 -0800

My lovely wife managed to rip out our soap dish from the shower wall. Pictures of it and her (not looking half as guilty as she should) after the break. So the story (as Mrs. Smarson tells it) is that she was shaving her legs in the shower and "merely rested her dainty foot upon the soap dish when it came crashing down..." A likely story.

Anyway, looks like the repair should be pretty simple since nothing actually broke, just came out of the tile wall. I'm worried though because whatever was used (grout maybe) as the adhesive is pretty discolored. Does that mean water go in there? Is that caulking around the edge too? What's my course of action here?

*Full disclosure: I'm a brand new home owner as of 3 weeks ago and these repairs are, while fun and challenging, something I have zero experience in. All input is gladly appreciated.

Name that Tile!

sluggo — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:40:12 -0800

I'm looking for some way to find (or at least ask google) about an oddly-shaped ceramic tile I recently saw. I saw these tiles in a restroom that looked pretty recently-remodeled, so I think they should be findable - but I can't for the life of me figure out a way to google this one. I would describe the shape of the tile as kind of "bone-shaped", but please see this badly drawn image for reference (the tiles are the orange part, and the black would be grout).

I'm thinking of using something like this to redo my bathroom, but need a way to find these things. If you know what they are called or (even better) where to find them, let me know. Thanks!

I need to figure out how to clean off this grout mess!

stormygrey — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:46:19 -0800

I am regrouting my basement bathroom tile, and as I look down at the sandy mess at my feet, I am wondering how to clean it! What are you supposed to with excess grout that comes off in puddles when you sponge it clean? Or the mess when you rinse out your sponge ever so often? Is it safe to just let it rinse down the drain or should I be using some kind of bucket? It seems that the grout cleanup is a little more manageable when it is not so wet, can I wait till it is mostly dry before sponging it all off?

Secondary question. The shady ass contractors whose work I am fixing also didn't finish anything off very well. How are you supposed to fix the protusion created between the tile backerboard on the shower wall and the non tiled portions of the plaster? Can you use some kind of treated wood quarter round. I need to finish the window framing as well, so the wood question is weighing on me.

(As to why I am not just riding my contractor to fix it) My contractor became very ill and his brother told us that he had been admitted to the hospital and didn't get the liver transplant he needed and died. Who knows, but this isn't the kind of thing I am going to question much.)

...to a deluxe apartment in the skyeyeye.

rubberkey — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 07:23:01 -0800

I'm 18 and I had to move out of my parents house. I'm in an apartment in Jersey City. I don't have cockroaches, there aren't any leaks, its a really great apartment and these are all small things that I've been dealing with the last few months. It's the basement apartment in a brownstone-type area of Jersey City. I have my own bedroom and bathroom but a communal kitchen with the people one floor above me. They're very nice upstairs.

1. (This is the most important question because its the only one that has made me reconsider living here.) It freezes while I'm out in the winter. I have a small semi-portable heater that keeps my bedroom warm after I've been home for a while but I don't think you can leave those on while you're not home. There's nothing worse than getting home at 2 am and crawling under frozen sheets. What can I do about that, the kitchen and bathroom being so cold?

2. What do I do with the fallen leaves in the front yard area? I never thought about that growing up because we raked them into piles and then they were gone. No-one else in the apartment uses the front area except me.

3. The grout between the tiles in the bathroom are black black black and its nasty to look at. Can I bleach them or something? Also, I have to hold down the handle for the toilet the entire time its flushing or it will stop, how do I fix that?

4. The front entry way smells awful. Right under the stairs where my front door is smells like sewage, I assumed rainwater sitting somewhere. I just can't see it anywhere. It's only sometimes, sometimes it smells fine. But when it does smell bad, its unbearable. Is this somewhat common? Since I don't know what the culprit is, I hope that someone else has experienced this and has some advice. (I'm the only one that uses the door under the stairs.)

5. What do I do with the crumbling brick walls? They are coming apart as a fine powder on the carpet. (This is not as urgent, I moved the bed to the other side of the room and nothing is touching the brick wall anymore.)

6. There is a gap between the top of the windows and the ceiling. There are plastic bags stuffed in there and I haven't taken them out to inspect it but I'm pretty sure that all the heat is escaping from the windows. It wasn't a huge problem, we just had that huge rainstorm yesterday and my windows and door stayed dry so I assume its sealed but its also plastic bags stuffed in the cracks. What can I do about this? Should I use that stuff that foams up and hardens in place? Am I allowed to fix that myself or do I have to ask the apartment manager or something?

7. I have bars on the windows since its the bottom floor, so what can I do for an air conditioner? I used a fan all last summer.

Finally, is there some helpful website or book that will help me with all this?

Tile and Grout Cleaner

Witty — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 08:15:44 -0800

If there's a badass tile and grout cleaner out there (for the bathroom), can you tell me what it is please? I can't seem to find "it". I don't mind letting "it" sit and soak. I don't mind scrubbing. But I want results. Gracias!