grout in shower

[Paul Hill]

I had a new shower put in in January. The grout is pulling away from the edges where the walls join and where walls join the floor and shower. The builder says it is settlement. It hadnt happened for 19 years in my old shower, he says that one must have been mudded in He wants to put caulking on instead of grout to fix it. Is that ok?

[Barbara BaruchParticipant]

: : I had a new shower put in in January. The grout is pulling away from the edges where the walls join and where walls join the floor and shower. The builder says it is settlement. It hadnt happened for 19 years in my old shower, he says that one must have been mudded in He wants to put caulking on instead of grout to fix it. Is that ok? hello barbara, I doubt very much that the cracking is due to settlement, however there is a great deal of expansion/contraction going on in all buildings, plastics more so than metals and also ground movement caused by moisture. In the uk it is common to use silicon sealants (I think this is what you call caulking in the usa) at the joint between shower trays, baths etc and tiled walls and it works fine because its flexible. Theres also a good selection of colours

[Barbara BaruchParticipant]

If your new shower was not built from scratch using a mortar bed the chances of flex in those areas you mentioned does increase. This is not abnormal. If done right installing caulk in those areas instead of grout will solve the problem, but not permanently. New caulking must replace the old every year or so depending on how often your shower is being used. To keep your shower looking like-new requires keeping water away. So another tip would be to towel-dry the bulk of the standing water where the wall meets the pan or tub. The walls also if you have if there is water build-up from steam moisture.Any questions? email me anytime. [email protected] : : I had a new shower put in in January. The grout is pulling away from the edges where the walls join and where walls join the floor and shower. The builder says it is settlement. It hadnt happened for 19 years in my old shower, he says that one must have been mudded in He wants to put caulking on instead of grout to fix it. Is that ok?

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