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Where to caulk in a newly tiled shower

8K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  dochorn 
#1 ·
I've done floors, but never a shower until this week. All is well except, I have one question:

Should caulking go into the "inside corners" rather then grout? My thought is that I expect things settle a bit over time, and I certainly don't want the grout to crack at that point. I did caulk the corners on backerboard prior to tiling, but is caulking the inside corner a standard practice?

I also plan on caulking the bottom to the base, at the ceiling, around the rough-in fixtures, and soap dish.

Need to know by Monday 4/21

Thanks for any input
 
#3 ·
Caulk as Bud said. It sounds that you only caulked the corners of the backerboard. The corners and seams are not supposed to be caulked, they get thinset with fiberglass mesh tape.

Jaz
 
#4 ·
You caulk after you tile & grout correct? What if the corners are wider and deeper than the 1/4 inch recommended?

We caulked the corners but now it looks like the caulk is cracking down the middle. Is this because the space is too wide/deep? What can be done now?

Thanks,
jhardin0515
 
#5 ·
We always grout first then caulk over it. All you can do if your caulk cracked it remove it and if you've not go grout behind there get some in, let dry, then caulk over it again. You will really want to clean all of the old caulk off though as you won't get a nice finish to the new line if you have lumps here and there of the old one. In most cases you shouldn't have a space larger and deeper than 1/4 inch on a shower wall. Most wall tiles are between 1/8-1/4 inch thick and most people use about a 1/8 spacing on wall tiles. Did you use a floor tile on the wall and it's thicker? Not that it can't be done, but then you should be using sanded floor grout which can go larger than 1/4 thick.
 
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