Standing On Floor While Caulking Around Bottom Of Shower

An area of controversy has always been whether to caulk or grout around the base of a tile shower floor.

Standing on floor while caulking around bottom of shower.

Caulk s tendency to support mold growth as well as its greater need for maintenance are others. Whether your shower is a free standing shower unit or part of a bathtub surround stall consisting of an acrylic shell or ceramic tile it is critical to seal the joints around the base and corners of the shower with a good quality silicone caulk. Remove any old strips of caulk in the shower. A properly installed tile shower should always have a 6 inch lip liner going up around base of the shower walls.

On one hand there is little chance for movement around the base of a properly installed tile shower floor. Removing old caulk and recaulking joints between tiles and your tub is an annual bathroom maintenance job. Matching the grout color both when the caulk is new and as it changes over time are major reasons. And you would be right it is behind the caulk the next thing that happens is that if there is enough water building up behind this area the water runs around the edge of the tub and down the walls behind the tiles outside the tub with the common resultant damage to walls and floors outside of the tub.

Caulking tubes are designed to apply pressure to the caulking within them so that you can squeeze out a bead of caulk with ease and precision. Once the old caulk is gone remove any loose grout between the walls and the tub or shower floor. Caulking the connection between your shower walls and tub prevents leaks and reduces mildew buildup. Use painter s tape create a guide for the new caulk line.

If you have tile shower walls there is a very good possibility that a leak could develop between the tile and the tub. Apply either silicone or latex caulk with a caulk gun or squeeze the product straight from. The key word in this recommendation is technically clearly the tcna recognizes that many tile installers use grout alone to seal shower. Scrub the grout and then rinse off the mold killer with water and let it dry.

Do cut the tube of caulk the right length. Treat any mold in the grout along the wall tub gap with a mold killing product.