Shower Door Caulk

boomer7

I have mildew in the silicone caulk of my glass shower door.

One company says take out the old silicone caulk and replace it with new.

The other company says take out old silicone caulk and put in grout caulk the same as you use on the tile floor in the shower.

What is the better option?

Also how do you prevent mildew forming in the caulk?

Bud Cline

I would also suggest removing the silicone but don't know how you would do that. Silicone makes a mess and is super hard to remove once it is there. Next time around I would use a "siliconized caulk" but not a 100% silicone caulk. That mold and mildew is encouraged by moisture. If you can't somehow control the moisture in that area you will probably always have the problem.

boomer7

All the companies use 100% silcone because they say it is waterproof whereas the grout caulk is water resistance.

I would assume that silcone caulk would be more water resistance.

I need to find out how to keep the area from getting water under the silcone.

I will have to find someone to take the silcone out.

Has anyone used grout caulk under the shower door?

I read that once you use silcone- you are stuck with it.

Does anyone have any more suggestions. Thanks Bud

rossfingal

Remove All the silicone - All!

rossfingal

PoleCat

Silicone is not that bad to remove actually. A nice sharp razor blade will get you started then use an eraser to take it the rest of the way down. Clean the area with a solvent before re-caulking or it won't seal either, no matter what it is made of. I prefer DAP tub & tile because it sets hard and can be kept clean without the risk of pulling it loose. Any place that gets pulled loose will entrap moisture and grow mold.

boomer7

Thanks

The silcone is sealed tight but for some reason it is still mildewing.

I had the glass shower company clean it out and resilcone about a year ago and now i have mildew again.

When i have it done again how do i keep the mildew from from getting in beneath the silicone- if it has been sealed properly.

Suggestions?

PoleCat

If in fact the seal was tight then water would not be able to get behind the caulk. Water may be coming in from the other direction. An opening somewhere in the frame that allows in moisture.

boomer7

Thanks

There is no frame on the bottom or the stationary glass shower door. It is glass with bolts on the bottom.

This shower door has one door that swings open with a sweep on the bottom. The other part is a stationary glass shower door. I have a walk in shower - there is no tub with it.

That is the mystery. I am trying to squeege the glass and then squeege the tile that the stationary door is resting on.

I am trying to come up with a diverter system that you put on top of the tile that the stationary glass door is resting on. I need to use a plastic piece.

Anyone have any suggestions?

PoleCat

I am having trouble forming a picture of this in my mind. Bolts? The caulk is between grouted tile and glass? Grout will wick moisture under the caulk. In this instance you do not want to use caulk at all.

boomer7

Thanks

This is a walk in tiled shower.

I have a large glass shower door which comprises of one door which you swing open and close to get into the shower. There are brushed nickel hinges on the side of this door.


What i meant was botton hinges which are brushed nickel which holds the stationary glass door on the bottom. The are square about three.

The silcone caulk is inside the shower on the bottom of the glass. This stationary glass door sits on top of the tile threshold.

The top of the two shower doors has a brushed nickel bar on top.

This is a traditional glass shower door that they install for walk in showers.

The configuration is not frameless.

The 100% silicone caulk has mildew. There is no track. That is my problem.

All glass companies use silcone under the stationary glass door so the door will not leak.

Thanks

PoleCat

Yeah, I see the picture now. I still say ditch the silicon and go with as small a bead as possible with grout. It will still grow mildew if not cleaned but at least it is very easy to keep clean as opposed to stuff growing under silicon which can never be "cleaned". Any household spray cleaner that has bleach in it and a tooth brush will remove any growth on the grout with very little effort.

Bud Cline

You can not effectively "grout" glass to metal. Never seen anybody "bead" grout. Grout is typically only used between tiles. When the tiles juncture with another material caulk is used. If water/moisture has a way to get behind the caulk then nothing in the future is going to change.

The accredited rule is to caulk all changes in plane, be it tile to tile, or tile to glass, or tile to metal, or metal to glass, or glass to glass, unless the glass to glass is glass tile to glass tile.

A picture could clear this up quickly.

CharisB

Remove the silicone first. Nothing else will stick to it, including silicone itself. There's this great product out there called McKanica Silicone Caulk Remover. You can get it at most hardware stores. Use that to remove it, then clean the surface with rubbing alcohol to ensure the surface is super clean and free of silicone.

A couple other things: if there is mildew in the silicone, that is sometimes a sign that there is moisture getting behind the bead and growing underneath the caulk. In a shower like you have, weigh down the floor with something heavy (a 5-gallon bucket of water will do) to help "expand" the joint so it's at its widest when you apply the caulk. Leave the bucket in there until the caulk has dried a bit, say 4-8 hours. That will help ensure your caulk bead won't get stressed as soon as someone steps in the shower.

I would recommend you use a caulk that has a guarantee to be mildew-free for several years. There are several out there. Do some research and I'm sure you'll find something that will work great.

Hope that helps!

-- Charis w/ Sashco - www.sashco.com - cbabcock@sashco.com

boomer7

Thanks everyone.

The company that installed my shower door is coming over this week to see what the problem is. There is no metal underneath the glass.

They said to use 100% silcone caulk- a grout caulk is not good they said because it is moisture resistant not waterproof.

Hopefully there techs can solve my problem.

boomer7

I had several tile experts give me different opinions of material to use.

On the baseboard i have latosil. It has been for about two years. For the past months there is mold underneath the caulk.

One expert wants to put latosil again.

One expert wants to put grout caulk.

Another wants to do use grout- because my grout on the walls has pink mildew which can be removed easily.

All the above are going to take out the old grout.

Opinions please. Thanks

We use a fan, keep the shower door open after shower and use squeege to wipe down.

Grout does not stay wet overnite.