Grouting

[Dottie]

About two weeks ago, I got a new sink in my bathroom. The plumber told me not to use it for 24 hours so the grout would dry. I followed instructions but the grout still started coming out. This is from just washing my hands and passing wet hands across to the towel bar. I scraped what hadn't already dissolved out, and put in new. I used DAP Kwik Seal - Kitchen and Bathroom caulk. I put in the caulk and let it dry 24 hours. The same thing happened.

What can I get that will stay in there and not wash out. I am not talking about a lot of water hitting this stuff....just dripping water when I wash my hands.

[norminn]

Grout and caulk are two different things...assuming you mean the caulk around the rim of the sink? Free-standing sink or in a counter? Used fresh tube of caulk? Can you describe the situation a little better?

Only time I have ever had caulk "come out" was when I installed a shower door improperly -I ran tons of caulk between the aluminum frame and the tub, rather than just along the edge where the two meet. Let it set several days, but with first shower it had not set at all so it ran down the outside of the tub. Checked with expert and redid the whole thing the right way.

Are you talking about a drop or two of water getting on the caulk, or more than that? If water puddles on it, of course it will not set properly. It normally dries within a few hours, although it takes longer to cure completely (several days).

[DanG]

Dottie, it sounds like something is very wrong. Call the plumber back and explain your problem. Offer to pay for new caulk if needed, but it would seem there is some contaminant of the counter or on the sink. It sounds to me like it needs to be reset after a good cleaning with lacquer thinner.

[Dorothy]

Before I call the plumber back - two things I wonder about. The caulk I used was some I had for about a year. It was closed ... and looked okay when I put it on. If I clean the area with something like lacquer thinner or alcohol - and then apply the caulk ... will that help? It looks clean ... and the answer to the amount of water is - very little water got on it. The sink is a set in type. There is no water leaking down into the cabinet below. The caulk just looks ragged and is still soft.

[charlie]

Before I call the plumber back - two things I wonder about. The caulk I used was some I had for about a year. It was closed ... and looked okay when I put it on. If I clean the area with something like lacquer thinner or alcohol - and then apply the caulk ... will that help? It looks clean ... and the answer to the amount of water is - very little water got on it. The sink is a set in type. There is no water leaking down into the cabinet below. The caulk just looks ragged and is still soft.

[Don Phillipson]

So the installer grouted improperly. Call him back and get him to finish the job.

[ransley]

.

Grout is sand and mortar, Bath caulk is usualy Silicone, Old silicone caulk often wont cure and will stay mushy, ive bought new tubes outdated and complained to Dow who said to read the date, it expired and that is what can happen. The plumber either had or purchased an out of date tube, he should fix it but now that you caulked over it how can he see what he put on wont cure. If after a week its mushy take it all out and start over, read the expiration date and dont use old stuff. New silicone also has a strong acidic odor

[Red Green]

"charlie" wrote in news:gqrlmc$j8c$ [e-mail]:

Good advice.

Squeeze some out. It should skin and not be sticky sticky after 30 min. After being burned bad by bad caulk once, I always do this, new tube or not.

Once you get some bad stuff on that won't cure, it's very difficult to remove it all. There's the risk of a super thin layer of it remaining. Whatever you use afterwards never contacts the surface of what you're trying to seal. An analogy might be super good gripping auto tires on pavement that stop on a dime. But put in a micro thin layer of ice between them and it's slip and slide.

As far as cleaning the old stuff out, I don't know the best cleaner for what you used but when I had the bad tube of GE silicone, GE tech support told me isopropyl alcohol, the highest percentage you can get. I had some

91% which they said was good.

[dadiOH]

1. Grout and caulk are two different things. Grout is a cementatious material and sets up hard by a chemical reaction.
2. Caulk never gets hard. Set, yes; hard, no. If it doesn't squish out softer material when you push on it or come off on your finger it is set.
3. There are many types of caulk...acrylic, silicon, paintable silicon, polysulfide, butyl, etc. What kind is yours?
4. It looks ragged because that is the way you applied it. If you want it to look neat, you have to make it neat after applying but before it sets.

[Dorothy]

..

1. It looks ragged because that is the way you applied it. If you want it to look neat, you have to make it neat after applying but before it sets.

***********

-- No! It came out of the tube in a fine, smooth perfect line. After it set 24 hours it appeared to be o.k. Then after a day or so of using the sink, it started dissolving....some is still in there under the edge. I will try to remove it and start over. This time I will check the tube for an expiration date before buying.

[ransley]

m...

Water affected it? did you use a water base latex product? Try using new, dated bath Silicone products. Old stock happens, at Ace Ive had problems several times since here most folks go to the HD nearby where its cheaper and the stock moves fast.