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Question:

why has my tile grout started to break up?

I tiled my fireplace and mixed the grout according to the right measurements. now a whole section of it is crumbling... can someone tell me why this is and what to do - thank you

Answer:

Even if you mixed it right there s a couple things. Dirt in the joints and it didn t adhere, Loose tiles ,( knock on them w/ your knuckles to hear if they sound hollow, to much water w/ washing grout down. This are a few. Any questions you can e mail me thru my avatar and check my qualifications PS You didn t say exactly wher, both I had a thought I forgot ..If its on the inside of the tile on the legs and header part , this is common and caused by the expansion and contraction of the fire chamber. It thats it thers a couple ways to go about fixing it. Caulking w/ a matching colored sanded grout or digging it out and putting in a special meatl thats normally called a Schulter Metal. It s L shaped and part of its slid behind the tile andglued in and some covers the tile edge. Comes in many colors and readily available at tile places. GL
When you say on the fireplace, I assume you mean the face of it. Without seeing it , it's hard to tell. I can only suspect that you used too much water in the mix, causing it to be weak. Or possibly the heat from the fireplace is expanding the tiles and causing the grout to pop out.

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