Tile to tub seam

[habbi]

Last year I installed new ceramic tiles in the bathroom with a new steel tub. I left a 3/8" gab between the tub and the tile and filled it with grout that matches all the other grout lines of the floor. It looks very nice for a few months but has now cracked because the tub flex just a hair when you get in and out. What should I do. I do not want to simply caulk over it because it would look stupid and I am sure it would peel. I was thinking of chipping it out and cleaning it and then caulking it but I think a 3/8" gap is too wide to fill with caulk. What should I do and how should I have done it in the first place. Is there any additives that would have strengthened or made flexible the grout. Thanks

[trader4]

It should have been done with a bathroom caulk and the gap should have been about 1/8 inch. Caulk remains flexible so that when the tub has the weight of water in it, it will flex and not crack. It should be done with the tub near full and allowed to cure, as that will have the space at it's widest. If there is enough room, you can go over the grout with caulk, or else remove it.

[ROBMURR]

How about removing the old caulk getting a more flexible caulk then filling the bathtub with water to lower the tub caulk it again. Or there may be a rubber trim moulding thing made for going around a tub that would hide the gap?

[Pop]

3/8" x 3/8" is the maximum fill for most caulks I've seen. It has to do with being able to cure properly. If it's too deep, put something behind it to take up some of the room.

There is a specific type of Silocone caulk made to use around tubs and they also make rubber glue-on trim that fastens to the tile and presses down on the tub. IMO, the best solution is both: Chip out some, not all of the grout so there's enough to not poke thru the caulk, caulk it to prevent water ever seeping down the wall, and then put the rubber flange around the tub. That'll further prevent water from getting in there, plus cover the mess you (I mean, I) make when the caulk goes on not-quite-prefectly. One more: Olive oil is good to use to keep the caulk from sticking to your skin. I keep a jar handy and use my fingertips to smooth out the caulk. Rubber gloves with olive oil works, too, but I don't like gloves; not enough feeling.

Test your olive oil just in case my brand's special since ymmv!

Pop

[Roger]

As the other poster noted, you should have left 1/8 inch gap, then filled it with silicone adhesive bathroom caulk, matched to the tub or grout color. True grout is meant for joining ridgid tiles only, and is very poor as a tub/tile boundary seal. Somehow you've got to chip out the grout, and replace it with flexible silicone caulk. Perhaps you could chip out all the grout, then insert a 1/8 inch rubber/plastic strip on the tub, let set, then later silicone the gap left where you removed the strip.

[Julie]

"Pop" wrote

I've heard the glue-on trim is supposedly "better" than caulk, but ...

In my experience that stuff only creates more gaps for water to collect in, and mildew to grow on. In my tub, the trangle-shaped gaps where the strip meets tile-grout-tile, are inevitable (since the strips are fairly rigid), and are yucky. I'll be removing the strips, cleaning, and re-caulking soon, because I'm not about to try to clean those gaps.

Now that's interesting ?!. Why didn't you post it a few days ago, when caulking technique was all the rage?

JSH

[Julie]

"Julie" wrote

So, I removed the vinyl glue-on trim and re-caulked today. Two notes, one good one bad.

I'd heard from others that the glue-on strip was better than regular caulk. As I wrote above, from the surface it already created more crevices for mildew. Then I took it off. I'd taken a shower a few hours before, but the walls and tub were fully dry.

BAD: Despite the amount of adhesive (NOT caulk!) holding the vinyl to the tile and tub, there was water-a-plenty behind it. So the vinyl actually creates a bigger problem than caulk - namely, when it fails to be watertight, you have no idea. All you see is a rigid strip that looks solid and tight enough ... not quite.

GOOD: Oil on the finger works *miracles* for smoothing caulk. Pop, you're a genius.

JSH