Replace Failing Caulk or Grout - PEP BB nest.straw.replacegrout

Here’s the bathroom sink caulk being replaced. Last time I did it about 2010, I took off too much, and left dips which held water and grew mold. Left more on this time.

Darn it, I knew I missed something. The removal part is the hardest and took longest, but I didn’t take a pic of it.

I have a shower stall to do as well, I’ll try again with that.

I’m not a big fan of baths. If I bought a house with a bath, I’d rip the tub out and use it to make a worm farm. Then I’d install a shower in it’s place.

The grout round the bath was nasty. There were a least three layers. Replacing it was on my list of todos since we first moved in two years ago but as I never used the bath, it never made it to the top until today and a potential BB!

I ripped out as much grout as I could using painters tool. I then went back over and using the same tool, cleared as much muck of as I could. Then I used a stiff brush and scrubbed. When that was done, I cleaned it with a cloth and went back over with the painters tool for any little stubborn bits. When I was satisfied every surface was clean and free of debris, I dried it with an old dish cloth.

I then went to work with the grout, laying a tiles worth, going back over with my finger to get a smooth surface and insuring it penetrated the full gap between tile and bath. I tidied up with the painters tool and a dry cloth. I think it’s about nine feet in total.

I'm lucky I had documented this project! Just came across this BB and happened to have the required photos.

The entire bathtub/shower badly needed the caulk to be replaced. It was cracking and pulling away from the wall. I started with a degooper to try to dissolve and wipe away as much of it as I could, but it didn't do much since it was so dry. I went at it with a putty knife instead (third picture).

I didn't get a picture of the entire project, but I redid all of the caulking between the bathtub and tiles, tile-tile corners, and the tiles and the ceiling. I believe you can see more than 2 feet of caulking in the first finished pic. I don't live there anymore, so I can't go back to take a better photo :(

Here's my submission

We had a crack in the grout in the shower. I used a grout saw to clean out the old grout. Then I wiped down the area with vinegar. I mixed up some new grout from powder and worked it into the crack with a wood stick and a small grout float. Finally, I waited for the grout to set and wiped down the area with a damp sponge. No more failing grout. The area is approximately 4' long and I took a before pic with a tape measure to show it.

There was a second window at one time; glass judging from the pieces they neglected to pick up from the front dirt area.  Guess it was cheaper to bust the rest of it out than to fix it.  So now we have single panes in the living area.  That's a project for another time.  The immediate need was to keep insects out.  I scraped off the residual silicone caulk and then used the caulk the big box store expert recommended.  For the larger gaps, I had to build up an area with a few layers.  I tried adding some brick dust to the larger parts.

The white spots are paint from a careless painter (not me).  Ignore them.  I have to learn how to repoint the mortar and will sand them off at that time.

Exterior brick was so much more harder than smooth interior!

This is a portion of bathtub caulk that needed replacing.

Howdy, Permies and Peppers!  I had a customer who wanted this tub/shower re-caulked.  Standard tub opening size is 30"x60" plus walls is well over the required two feet.  I was in the zone when I was cleaning up and scraping out old caulk, so I did not get a picture of that part of the process.  However, it is clear that removal was done well because the new bead of caulk is smaller and tidier than the old.  I notice many on this thread might be interested in one proper way to make caulk look really good, so I included pictures of the application process that I use to achieve an attractive and water tight seal every time.

First there is before and after photos because they look so good next to each other, then the process photos.  Thank you, Enjoy!

The caulk around my tub had failed and was pretty gross. Time to replace!