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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > March 2008 > Grout or Caulk between new tile and bath tub
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Grout or Caulk between new tile and bath tub
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| pkmicro 2008-03-30, 3:25 am |
| I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair.
Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
Porcelain tiles? TIA
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| trader4@optonline.net 2008-03-30, 9:25 am |
| On Mar 30, 2:45=A0am, "pkmicro" <pkmi...@verizon.net> wrote:
> I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair=
..
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? =A0TIA
Caulk. There will be some unavoidable movement between the two, due
to temp differences, tub weight changing with water, etc. Caulk
flexes, grout cracks.
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| Robert Allison 2008-03-30, 1:25 pm |
| pkmicro wrote:
> I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair.
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? TIA
>
>
Caulk designed for wet locations. Fill the tub with water, then
caulk.
--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX
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| Wayne Whitney 2008-03-30, 1:25 pm |
| On 2008-03-30, pkmicro <pkmicro@verizon.net> wrote:
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? TIA
That depends. Caulk is flexible, which is good at the joint between
two dissimilar materials that may move differently. Grout, in my
experience, is good because it doesn't support mildew growth as much
as caulk does.
So if your bathtub is acrylic or steel, it will move too much for
grout, so use the caulk. If your bathtub is cast iron, which is
pretty rigid like your tile, you can use grout, and it will be easier
to clean. If it develops a few small cracks, you can seal those with
a very tiny amount of caulk--don't cover the surface of the grout with
caulk, or it will defeat the advantage of the grout.
Cheers, Wayne
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| Roger Taylor 2008-03-30, 8:25 pm |
| "pkmicro" <pkmicro@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:kyHHj.2563$bC6.539@trnddc08...
>I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair.
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? TIA
Something flexible and mold resistant.
I use GE Silicone bathtub caulk. Make sure the cartridge is fresh - shelf
life is short, and the use-by date is on the base of the cartridge.
Also, if you haven't practiced applying silicone grout to a seam, do some
practice on a 90-degree inside corner of scrap.
You actually need only a fairly thin bead, but it should be finished flat,
using slant-cut nozzle, so it doesn't bulge out and look ropy.
Roger
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| Heathcliff 2008-03-30, 9:25 pm |
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trad...@optonline.net wrote:
> On Mar 30, 2:45=EF=BF=BDam, "pkmicro" <pkmi...@verizon.net> wrote:
ir.[color=darkred]
>
> Caulk. There will be some unavoidable movement between the two, due
> to temp differences, tub weight changing with water, etc. Caulk
> flexes, grout cracks.
That answer seems very logical, but having observed many bathrooms, it
seems that the usual practice is to use grout and it works fine. I
used grout along the steel tub when tiling my bathroom and it has
never cracked or separated. And it avoids the problems with caulk:
one, a good smooth caulk bead is hard to get for a DIYer, and two, it
seems no matter what kind you get it supports mold eventually. -- H
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"pkmicro" <pkmicro@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:kyHHj.2563$bC6.539@trnddc08...
>I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair.
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? TIA
If you choose your grout carefully, you can get silicon caulk to match the grout
color. On mine, the match is not exact, but it is close. The caulk is only
available for some of the grout colors, for some manufacturers. Talk to a good
tile shop for availablility in your area.
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| On Mar 30, 12:45 am, "pkmicro" <pkmi...@verizon.net> wrote:
> I have just finished laying 20x20 Porcelain tiles on my bath room up-stair.
> Should I use grout or caulk between the Bath Tub and the new
> Porcelain tiles? TIA
Grout with a good latex sealer. Caulk will eventually get mold spots.
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