Re-caulking Shower Help

[workathomedad]

Hi, before MMM we had a contractor install a new shower. The caulk got moldy, and now I'm wondering if it was done quite right...

1) The base of the shower has a very large gap. The contractor had just filled this with a *lot* of caulk. The boards behind started to get stained with mildew/mold when the caul leaked. Is it proper to just fill this up with caulk again or should something else be applied? The gap seemed big.




2) There is also this large gap between the wall around the shower base. It also got moldy... the contractor said it was necessary to let water leak out if it got through the tiles. Is that right? Should I caulk it, or just clean it and leave it?

[midweststache]

Can I ask a silly question? Isn't the point of tiling a shower so that water does NOT get through the tile (i.e. into the wall)...

I've never seen a shower that wasn't caulked completely around (and, thus, airtight to keep moisture out of the interior of the walls).

[Jack]

o_O

I'm no expert (I've watched lots of HGTV etc. but haven't actually done a shower myself before), but I'd rip that out and start over. There's a bunch of different ways to waterproof a shower, but it looks like your contractor decided to pick "none of the above."

(If pic #1 is of the gap between the shower base and the floor outside the shower, as I think it is, there shouldn't be any water getting in there to begin with. For that to happen, either the drain is leaking or water is flowing down inside the wall.)

Could you see if you can take another pic straight on of the gap between the tile wall and the shower base, so we can see into it?

See also: http://www.angieslist.com/articles/your-tile-shower-really-waterproof.htm

[workathomedad]

Water was getting into the base because the floor caulk started to come up at the bottom in one edge and leak underneath (I should have noticed and done something earlier).

[Jack]

Water was getting into the base because the floor caulk started to come up at the bottom in one edge and leak underneath (I should have noticed and done something earlier).

Oh, so it was because you splashing water onto the bathroom floor yourself? That's different then.

Still, a seam that big requires more than just caulk to fill it. (Backer rod at the minimum, but some kind of molding would be better.) Your contractor may not have necessarily done it wrong, but it's sloppy workmanship at the least.

[Spork]

[ Not an expert here ]

I wouldn't worry about the size of the gap between the tub and the surrounding tile.  It looks like it is roughly the same as the grout width.  (Correct me if I am wrong.)  On that one, I'd clean it out really well, treat it with some bleach based product like Tilex and let it sit a day or two to dry up.  Then caulk it with a sanded caulk that is color matched to your grout.  (Your grout looks to be sanded grout... which is why I say sanded caulk.)

Normally the gap between the tub and walls are caulked for expansion purposes.  Walls wiggle and move over time.  Tubs can settle, etc.

Now... if you do have water behind the tile... thats not good and you'll probably get mold

Your other gap is pretty huge.   It would be hard to make that look neat with caulk (or would be for me).  I bet someone will have a better idea how to fill that....  Maybe a mix of some thin trim made from similar color faux marble and caulk?  You could trim it much like you'd trim cabinetry that doesn't quite mate up with the wall.

[workathomedad]

Here's the gap where the tile meets the shower base. I scrubbed it a bit, and it might not be as horribly moldy as I originally thought...

There's some kind of fabric-liner. I don't know what's going on. I should have dealt with this originally with the contractor... anyway thanks for the help!

[workathomedad]

The shower base to wall gap is 3/8 inch. This was always just as-is.

The floor to shower base gap is 6/8 inch. It was just packed full of a *lot* of white caulk. Huge chunks that went back to the wood base and up under the shower base.

[workathomedad]

Thanks guys!

So I have a dehumidifier in the room holding it at 30% for now.

For the shower base to wall gap: I'll try to clean it out more and fill it in with some sand-color caulking.

For the shower base to floor gap: backer rod and something like this around the base, then caulk it? http://www.lowes.com/pd_206242-33674-F141VXPWHT___?productId=3022466&pl=1&Ntt=bath+molding

[Jack]

It's hard to tell, but it looks to me like the wall-to-tile gap has tar paper behind the tile (which is good). I was worried that we'd look in the gap and see drywall or bare studs or something.

This article seems to cover the particular construction details you're dealing with: http://www.askthebuilder.com/waterproofing-tile-installations/

As for the large gap between the shower base and floor, PVC shoe molding might be flexible enough to go around that curve without having to cut separate pieces (if you find it's almost flexible enough, try kerf cutting the back side or maybe heating it). I'm not sure of the details -- in other words, this could very well be wrong! -- but I'd get some backer rod, caulk it into the gap and let it dry, then use more caulk to glue the shoe molding to it and let it dry, then use a little more caulk to seal any remaining cracks between the shoe molding and shower pan, and between the shoe molding and floor.

[workathomedad]

Thank you very much. I really appreciate the help!

[Greg]

Either joint could and probably should be caulked with the right caulking.  If what was there got moldy, it wasn't the right stuff.  While I don't like silicone caulk in general, this may be a place for it but it will be difficult to tool it to look perfect.

For the wall/tub joint, try to find color-match caulking to go with your grout.  It's even available in sanded and non-sanded forms.

[workathomedad]

Thanks for all the help! I did use silicone.

The PVC base trim also worked well. I had to use some free weights to hold it in place while the caulk dried :-) My first time caulking went so-so. Learned some lessons for next time.

[monarda]

Ask your question at the John Bridge forums.http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1

Use 100% silicone caulk.  NOT acrylic or latex.

There are really helpful professionals there. Some whose specialty is caulk.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=85634&highlight=caulk

[kendallf]

That should work fine.  Next time keep a pail of water nearby; run a bead of caulking, wet your finger and smooth it until it loads up, stop before you start streaking it up the wall, rinse the caulk off your finger, repeat.  Or you can tape on both sides of the seam, leaving a gap the width of your desired caulk bead.  I do this for porous materials like brick that can't be easily cleaned.