Are you telling me he left the toilet in place and cut in around it?

Quite frankly, I don't usually do ANYTHING to the joint where the toilet and floor meet. But I do know that there are some jurisdictions where it's required, and in that case, it should be caulking. As for where the tile stops and gets grouted to the sheetrock or cement board, grout is fine there.

Now, as for grouting 1/8" joints with unsanded grout. I try to discourage it, because unless the grout is mixed extremely stiff, it tends to shrink and crack, as well as show alot of pinholes, afterward. But manufacturers (all of them) claim you can use it up to 1/8". As for the spots where the joints get a little bigger, you can't switch from one to the other in the middle of the wall. It'd look terrible. The best bet is if there ARE any areas that look sub-par, have him retouch them. If it's been 3 weeks, he may have to dig the grout out first and regrout, let it dry, and then check to make sure the new grout didn't cause a problem, and if it did, he can go back over it with another coating within the first 72 hours.

We have a beautifully remodeled bathroom with a fantastic extra large tub. We reinforced the floor under the tub by installing beams with shelving in the basement because we knew when it was full of water and 2 people, it would be quite heavy. Now after 4 years, there is a hairline fracture in the grout between the tub and tile surround. We are not so worried about water getting back inside because we laid a silicone bead in combination with a special gasket along the tub edge (gasket specific for installs such as this). However, the hairline fracture is noticeable and we would prefer to not see if. What else can we use besides grout that would not crack or separate when the tub is full of weight? We are looking for something that is flexible, can be colored and waterproof of course!

Siliconized latex caulking. It should've been used INSTEAD of grout in the first place. You want to score the grout out first, and then caulk that joint.

"I don't usually do ANYTHING to the joint where the toilet and floor meet. "

I cannot recall the last time I saw a toilet that was NOT caulked.

One less place for things to get into and require cleaning.

The common method is to caulk everything but the back of the bowl.
It is very hard to get under the tank and around the water line to caulk, and that is not a likely area for much to get under the toilet.

If there is wooden baseboard din the bathroom I normally caulk under it to prevent water from entering the wall (clean or black - toilets overflow occasionally).

Couple of things here. First of all; ANY "change of plane" should have caulk and not grout.

Secondly, while a toilet "May" look better with nothing, I always caulk it with a matching colour. I always leave a two or three inch area behind the toilet with NO caulk. Why? If the is any leak, I want to see water coming out as, with NO caulk, it tends to collect UNDER the toilet, creating all kinds of structural problems. I'd rather KNOW about it and fix it quickly (leaking wax ring, etc.) than let it "simmer" for a year or two and become a major problem.

Bill,

You mentioned using using 'siliconized latex caulking' to caulk the change in plane. Would you use that caulk or a regular silicon caulk to caulk the joint between a heavily used shower base and the wall tiles?

My bathrooms were redone about 6 years ago, and this at least the 3rd time I've had to redo the joint with silicon caulk. It looks good for about 6 months or so, then it starts to get mildew spots, despite frequent cleaning and daily squeegeeing. The frequent redos are getting old...fast.

Helene

And how about if the gap between floor tile and shower wall tile is too darn big- such as 1/4 to 1/2 inch? My tile guy grouted, and of course it cracked. I too dug out the grout and used sanded calk. It got moldy. I dug it out and most of the grout, and that left too big a ditch to fill in evenly with calk. What can I do? Its time to re-do it as the last time never did work. MOLD.

brickeyee and Laz-- I cannot recall the last time I saw a toilet that WAS caulked. In fact, I don't think I've EVER seen one caulked.

My bathrooms were redone about 6 years ago, and this at least the 3rd time I've had to redo the joint with silicon caulk.

Here's the problem with 100% silicone caulk, and one of the reasons I don't like to use it-- ALL caulking has to be replaced sooner or later, and with the silicone, once used, nothing else will stick-- not even more silicone-- until all residue of the previous bead of silicone has been completely cleaned away. This means that every time you've caulked, there's been microscopic voids where water could get trapped, and that's where you've gotten your n start with the mold and mildew. Jasco puts out a solvent for cleaning that old caulking out once you've removed most of the old bead. Once you've cleaned it, go back with a siliconized latex caulk (and I'd use one from one of the grout companies, being that they all have antimicrobial agents in them to fight mold and mildew), and you should be fine.

Chinchette-- Actually, it CAN be filled evenly with caulking. As a favor to a contractor, I just went in and caulked a joint that big from a hardwood floor to a brick hearth about two weeks ago. What you need to do is tape off both sides of the joint with blue painters tape, (preferrably 2" tape), and then instead of tooling it with your finger and using a sponge to finish the joint, go to a hardware store, and get a "throw away" plastic putty knife, and use that to tool the joint. It'll give you a nice flat joint, flush to the top of the tile, and then as soon as you tool the joint, pull the tape, and it's a done deal.

Thanks Bill. Will the calk then shrink? Do we have to use the Jasco if we used silconized latex calk previously?

It may. But if it does, retape, reapply, and you should be fine then. As for the Jasco, no-- that's only for 100% silicone, like the GE caulkings.

Ah, thanks so much. I had that on my to do list for a month or more now: "ask Bill". I can check off on the research phase at least. : ) Have to trust the boy from Orange.

Bill,
Thanks so much for your reply. Each time I've redone the caulking, I've removed all the silicon caulk completely, using a razor and other tools to make sure to remove as much of the silicone as humanly possible. It's also a pain to make a decent bead with the silicone, so I'm looking forward to using the siliconized latex caulk.

I do have some questions for you, however. Although use varies, how long can we reasonably expect that joint to look good and perform properly - with regular shower cleaning and squeegeeing? Would I still have to end up redoing it every year or so? Is it just the easier application and removal that makes it advantageous?

And....what should the shape of the tooled joint look like? Am I aiming for a 'flat, flush joint" that you mentioned in your reply to Chinchette? or should I be looking to achieve a 'coved' effect between the vertical wall tiles and the shower pan's horizontal lip?

Helene

I would reasonably expect caulking to last at the very least 5-6 years without any problems.

As for what it should look like, look at your grout joints. It should look just like that. The only reason I told Chinchette to make it full and flat like that was because of the size of the joint. When they get that big, they're either completely full, or 3/4 empty. I think I'll go with full. :-)

Oh, one more thing. Can the siliconized calk be sanded?

Chinchette (and Bill),

I was going to ask the very same thing...

Also, I've been very happy with the durability of the vertical joints covered with 'silicone' caulk; could I mix the use of the 2 types of caulk? redo the vertical joints with silicone and do just the horizontal tile-to-shower-pan joint in the siliconized latex (hereafter referred to as SL)?

You might ask why I'd want to do such a thing :-) -if I could only use the SL, I would have to remove all the silicone on the vertical joints from the shower door frame - which hasn't needed to be redone since it was installed - still in perfect condition.

Awaiting your advice....

Helene

Can the siliconized calk be sanded?

Yes.

could I mix the use of the 2 types of caulk? redo the vertical joints with silicone and do just the horizontal tile-to-shower-pan joint in the siliconized latex

That should be fine, although you may have a problem where the two overlap or intersect. Hopefully, for that small an area, it won't make a difference.

I still haven't completed my project!

How much of the old SL do I have to dig out so that the new SL will stick? Will SL stick to SL so that there is no leakage for H2O to get into? Is there a preferred brand? I re-read this thread and I think Bill is saying the calk will stick to the same type of calk.