Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - grout or slicone for shower edges and corners?

Hello,

My shower is tiled and in some places (mostly the bottom edges and the corners which are currently grouted), there are some cracks in the grout and I am concerned about water leaks. As such, I am planning to repair the grout. I am however not sure if I should, after removing the grout, regrout or use silicone instead. What is the recommended method? In addition, if grouting is acceptable, can I use sanded grout even if the joints are less than 1/8 ?

Thx,


Nimalex.

I am in a similar situation. I must redo the bathroom because we were not told about loose shower tiles until it was too late. I am in the process of re-grouting and caulking the bathroom. Some tiles have come off, and are dry, but ones nearest the tub faucet have come off and the insulation is wet behind it. The wall is dry there. Can I just spray some bleach water, let it dry, then put the tiles with the dry area behind them back on and grout around them? I would caulk around the bottom of the wall that meets the tub and in the corners where it is butting another wall (that would be the 2 back walls to the front wall.) if I am reading this correctly.

Additionally two tiles came off and the drywall is damp behind them. Can I let it dry off (air dry) for a few days to see if they dry out, and if they do, put the tiles on and thank my lucky stars? If not, what is the procedure for fixing those puppies?

Thanks!

Oh boy, I don't want to ruin your day, but here goes. You said the "dry wall" thing. That's the problem. Sheet rock can't be used to build a shower and you're getting to find out why. The shower will continue to deteriorate and the only cure for it is to do the whole thing over, using the correct materials and methods. You can try all sorts of things to avoid it, but they're just band aids and the shower will have to be redone sooner or later. Sorry folks. Do you have any recourse with the previous owner? I think I'd try.

Back to the original question - use caulking in the corners and at the bottom of the shower enclosure where the tile meets the shower pan. You can find colored caulking, if needed to try to match your existing grout color.

Maybe it isn't drywall...I use that as a general term!!

Let me explain what I have behind the shower tiles. I said drywall, but I don't think it really is. As you can tell I don't exactly know what these technical terms are.

When the tiles come off there is a lot of rockish stuff on the wall, as well as the glue that holds them there. Remember, not too many have come off and I wanted some to come off. I fixed my shower with green board years ago and it is still OK (I just knocked on wood!!)

What should I be looking for behind there? How will I know what it is? There aren't any studs or anything I can see. It sounds hard. BUT I took off 30 years of caulk and can see between the tub and the 1st row of some shower tiles.

And this leads me to another question!! Yikes!! Is that why they give the three different caulk smoother outers in the kit? So I can get way back, then back, and they just make it look pretty? (Just love those technical terms, huh?) And if I am on the wrong page, can someone let me know?

We have owned the house for 10 years. It was inspected....

Thank you!!