Recaulking at previously silicone-caulked shower door frame

hffeagan · Jan 2, 2008

I removed previous silicone caulking which was blackening with mildew from our shower door frame where it joins fiberglass shower.

Noticed on the DAP tube instructions where it warned against placing DAP white Tub and Tile Caulk at a location which had previously been sealed with a silicone caulk.
:whistling2: We had already thoroughly cleaned the area, both the chrome or stainless steel frame and adjacent fiberglass: by scraping out old caulk, wiping away all loose particles, wiping the joint a dampcloth, drying wit clean paper towel, allowing area to dry thoroughly for 18 hours; my wife wanted a nice straight edge so we (experimented) placed painter's edging tape on fiberglass and metal frame and finally applied 1/4" bead of caulk and finger smoothed it in to place.
Waited about 18 hours and began peeling edging tape from one side and promptly pulled all the caulking out.

Does anyone have experience as to what i should do to prep the fiberglass and metal surfaces before installing more caulk? Differnt brand/type of caulk? Should we forget teh edging tape? Any other ideas?
:thumbsup: Thanks in advance !! hff

kennyj3 · Mar 13, 2012

Nestor... Thank you for some GREAT instruction. It has "saved the day" for my project.

AtlanticWBConst. · Mar 13, 2012

Ha, hah, ha.......nestor.....

The nutty chemical scientist

:laughing::no:

MarkVO · Sep 12, 2012

How to remove silicone from fiberglass

I did a search on the title for this post and got some answers that did point in helpful directions. Ultimately I tried using charcoal lighter fluid at my son's suggestion - a great substitute for Goof Off. I put a little on a paper towel and wiped the old silicone with the towel. Then I started to work off the remaining silicone with a plastic putty knife my fingernail and the paper towel with lighter fluid. The lighter fluid definitely helped remove the silicone. Waiting a few minutes after wiping with the fluid seems to help too. I was able to get all noticeable silicone removed. Then I did a final wipe down with rubbing alcohol. The result was a smooth, shiny clean surface.

747 · Jan 3, 2013

I bought a tube of silicon calk once. I made one hell of a mess:laughing: Acrylic for me now.:laughing: Bottom line its for the professional.

flyboy737 · Feb 24, 2016

Nestor,

I mixed a batch of the baking soda and bleach. Applied on the black mold, covered with saran overnight, and washed the next day. Worked like a charm! I have clear caulk and colored tiles, and NO DISCOLORATION from the mixture!! Thanks!!

KaseyW · Jun 5, 2017

Nestor_Kelebay: A thousand thanks for your posts. I now feel I'm on my way to re-caulking my tub for the last time. My philosophy is: "Take the time to do any home repair in such a way that you'll never have to waste the time to re-do it" and, at my age (67) I can hope to achieve my goal most of the time. :wink2: But, until now, I've been a miserable failure in the caulking department and I finally understand why. Thank you SO much. I'm on my way to my local hardware store to get the magic potion and I've copied and saved your wonderful explanation so I can score points with friends and family members.

Recaulking at previously silicone-caulked shower door frame

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities