IF YOUR tiles are looking a little worse for wear they may not need renewing – just regrouting – to give them a whole new lease of life.

Grout can become discoloured over time with mould, cooking splashes, shower gel and shampoo residues taking their toll.

Before you consider replacing the grout, try scrubbing it with sugar-soap or grout-cleaning spray then, if necessary, use grout paint to make it white again. If this doesn’t do the trick, and you can’t live with the grout as it is, you’ll need to rake it out and replace it.

You may also need to replace grout if it wasn’t applied properly in the first place, if it has cracked and deteriorated, or if you want a different colour.

If you were responsible for applying it poorly, make sure you do it right this time or get a tiler in. Removing grout is not a particularly nice task – it’s boring, repetitive and hard work – so don’t undertake it lightly.

Mould is usually black, but if you have brown mould on your grout, this may mean that water is getting in behind the tiles and penetrating the joints. If so, you’ll need to find – and remedy – the cause of the problem before regrouting, or get a plumber to.

If you’re removing the grout, you will need to use a grout rake – a small tool with replaceable blades.

You’ll need to remove at least 2mm of the old grout (preferably 3mm) for regrouting to work.

It’s important not to scratch the tiles in the process or you’ll have to replace those as well.

Raking out the grout involves moving the rake from side to side and up and down along the joints.

Unless you have tiled recently, the grout will be set hard so this will take some effort.

Once you’ve raked out the grout from the whole tiled area, you’re ready to clean out the joints and regrout.