Advice needed on my bath grout and caulk plan

I live in a 6-yr old builder's spec house. The tub was entirely installed with grout only, not a bit of caulking. The only caulking in the entire bath is along top and bottom of baseboards, where shower glass meets sidewall, and on the OUTside of the bottom of the glass/wall junction. There's a lot to fix. I have plenty of caulking experience but none at all with grout. I am guided by the advice I saw here that grout is for planes, caulking is for change of plane. Please let me know if I should be grouting instead of caulking anyplace! Let's start with the tub. First shot is (was supposed to be, but got put second) the whole (stupidly shaped) tub. Where the tub edge meets the tile edging or wall, the grout is cracked and missing in many places. I plan to remove as much grout as possible and use 100% silicone caulking in white around the tub. I will make sure I don't get clear by mistake, which seems to be a common issue due to packaging similarities. There are gray vanity cupboards flanking the tub. I am considering painting them white. If I do, then white caulking would be fine. That still leaves about 2" on each side where tile meets tile. It is a short section, so would it be no big deal to keep using the white caulking there? I also have the vertical tile corner just above the tub to caulk. If I don't paint the cabinets, should I choose caulking that matches the tiles? I understand that caulking usually matches the grout. The rest of the house has gray tile with matching grout and the builder clearly used the same gray grout in the bath, then put a surface treatment on it to make it look lighter so it will match. Now that it has worn off in places, leaving me with patchy colored grout on the floor, I plan to recolor the grout with Maipei grout refresh, unless someone has a preferable product recommendation. I'll have to also color the grout in the tub surround. I think I can order caulking and grout paint in the same color from Maipei. Would it be preferable to use the caulking that matched the tile for all of it, instead of white? Does it even matter? Is that just a personal preference? Is it even OK to use caulking instead of grout? On to the shower... There is cracking and missing grout in the shower corners. The rest is fine. I don't want to put clear caulking on top because the bad grout could still be seen. I plan to scrape/scrub out as much cracked grout as possible and caulk, just in the edges, again with 100% silicone. Does that seem like the right approach? What color do I use? Should I get caulking that matches the tile? I was not planning on painting the grout in the shower but I could do it after if the caulking is too different from the grout, but it seems like it will be OK. The builder's grout color hasn't worn as much there because it's no walked on. Third and lastly, the shower glass. There is a half wall with framed glass above. The wall is 5" thick and the glass frame is less than 1", leaving a good 2" on each side. Only the outside (dry side) of the horizontal, lower frame edge was caulked (both vertical sides havie inside and outside clear caulking and it's perfect and invisible). Water tends to collect on the ledge when the shower is used. I am sure it has gotten under the frame. I need to remove and replace the old, clear silicone caulking on the outside. I plan to clean and dry the inside as well as possible, including a rinse with 90% alcohol to sanitize and dry, before allowing to dry thoroughly (24 hrs) then caulk the inside. Does the alcohol rinse seem like the way to go? Any tips on making it last in a wet environment? bonus question: I should also put caulking around the shower control knob so water doesn't get into the wall, right? Cause there is no seal at all there now. Do I also need to caulk around the tub faucet? Sorry for the long story. I am not confident in my DIY skills and I've tried to research such as I can. Thanks for reading and for any advice! submitted by /u/Genny415 [link] [comments]

May 26, 2025 - 18:00

I live in a 6-yr old builder's spec house. The tub was entirely installed with grout only, not a bit of caulking. The only caulking in the entire bath is along top and bottom of baseboards, where shower glass meets sidewall, and on the OUTside of the bottom of the glass/wall junction.

There's a lot to fix. I have plenty of caulking experience but none at all with grout. I am guided by the advice I saw here that grout is for planes, caulking is for change of plane. Please let me know if I should be grouting instead of caulking anyplace!

Let's start with the tub.

First shot is (was supposed to be, but got put second) the whole (stupidly shaped) tub.

Where the tub edge meets the tile edging or wall, the grout is cracked and missing in many places. I plan to remove as much grout as possible and use 100% silicone caulking in white around the tub. I will make sure I don't get clear by mistake, which seems to be a common issue due to packaging similarities.

There are gray vanity cupboards flanking the tub. I am considering painting them white. If I do, then white caulking would be fine.

That still leaves about 2" on each side where tile meets tile. It is a short section, so would it be no big deal to keep using the white caulking there? I also have the vertical tile corner just above the tub to caulk.

If I don't paint the cabinets, should I choose caulking that matches the tiles?

I understand that caulking usually matches the grout. The rest of the house has gray tile with matching grout and the builder clearly used the same gray grout in the bath, then put a surface treatment on it to make it look lighter so it will match. Now that it has worn off in places, leaving me with patchy colored grout on the floor, I plan to recolor the grout with Maipei grout refresh, unless someone has a preferable product recommendation. I'll have to also color the grout in the tub surround. I think I can order caulking and grout paint in the same color from Maipei.

Would it be preferable to use the caulking that matched the tile for all of it, instead of white? Does it even matter? Is that just a personal preference? Is it even OK to use caulking instead of grout?

On to the shower...

There is cracking and missing grout in the shower corners. The rest is fine. I don't want to put clear caulking on top because the bad grout could still be seen. I plan to scrape/scrub out as much cracked grout as possible and caulk, just in the edges, again with 100% silicone.

Does that seem like the right approach? What color do I use? Should I get caulking that matches the tile?

I was not planning on painting the grout in the shower but I could do it after if the caulking is too different from the grout, but it seems like it will be OK. The builder's grout color hasn't worn as much there because it's no walked on.

Third and lastly, the shower glass.

There is a half wall with framed glass above. The wall is 5" thick and the glass frame is less than 1", leaving a good 2" on each side. Only the outside (dry side) of the horizontal, lower frame edge was caulked (both vertical sides havie inside and outside clear caulking and it's perfect and invisible). Water tends to collect on the ledge when the shower is used. I am sure it has gotten under the frame.

I need to remove and replace the old, clear silicone caulking on the outside. I plan to clean and dry the inside as well as possible, including a rinse with 90% alcohol to sanitize and dry, before allowing to dry thoroughly (24 hrs) then caulk the inside.

Does the alcohol rinse seem like the way to go? Any tips on making it last in a wet environment?

bonus question: I should also put caulking around the shower control knob so water doesn't get into the wall, right? Cause there is no seal at all there now. Do I also need to caulk around the tub faucet?

Sorry for the long story. I am not confident in my DIY skills and I've tried to research such as I can. Thanks for reading and for any advice!

submitted by /u/Genny415
[link] [comments]