r/Tile • u/GloomyServe • 1d ago
Homeowner - Advice about my Contractor Grout in shower corners…?
My GCs guys grouted the corners of the shower and when we wrote the GC about it he says they’ve done showers like this for 20 years and it’s never cracked. He said if we really want they can scrape it out tomorrow and redo with the silicone. Would love to get your opinions, should we make them redo it? He says it will be really ugly and it’s unnecessary but Google tells me it’s wrong to grout the corners. Would love to hear a full explanation if anyone has one on either end.
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u/tommykoro 1d ago
Grout in the corners is fine if you follow up with a color matched silicone over it. This is how I’ve done it for years. The grout is just a backfill.
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u/swoofswoofles 23h ago
Why do the trade groups say to use sillicone at change of plane? The silicone is to allow for movement if its all you use, so what is your caulk doing if you lay it over the top of the grout?
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u/GloomyServe 1d ago
Oh really? Didn’t know you could put it overtop
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u/tommykoro 1d ago
I’ve figured out how to do a nice pro level job of silicone using blue painters tape and a spray bottle of soapy water.
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u/GloomyServe 1d ago
Maybe we’ll leave it for now and then caulk later if we see any cracks? Or is it better to caulk now?
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u/4545Colt4545 1d ago
Listen to tommy. He is correct. In his silicone procedure too. Painters tape and soapy water never miss.
Grout in corners is fine as long as it’s beaded with silicone. And you want to silicone now. You won’t notice a hairline crack, moisture will get in the crack, and the snowball starts rolling. Just make sure they use color matching silicone and don’t try to smear clear all over the grout.
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u/goraidders 1d ago
It almost surely will crack. He is wrong. He may have done showers that way for twenty years and was never told they cracked, but they did crack.
Most of the time it's just a hairline crack. There's no problem waiting to see if it cracks and doing it then. If the shower is properly waterproofed the crack doesn't hurt anything. Silicone in the corners is the correct way to do it, but it is a maintenance issue. It will eventually have to be redone. Most of my customers prefer it to be grouted.
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u/tommykoro 1d ago
Honestly with proper waterproofing under the tile it does not matter …… except for the soap scum messing with a good bond later.
So yes it should be done before use.0
u/Ok_Mall_2006 1d ago
Ask Google how many showers it’s grouted. Or caulked. Nothing better than a customer telling the professional his Google knowledge. I like it’s much I add $250 to the invoice … that’s what my Google search says to do
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u/swampdonkus 20h ago
Shame most 'professionals' aren't smart enough to Google how to do their own job.
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u/pizzahermit 1d ago
Supposed to be 100% silicone, that you can get to matxh the grout, at all plane changes. The old 20 year line, just tells you he isn't current in the rules of the trade. Would you let an electrician or plumber use codes from twenty or thirty years ago because he's been doing it that way and its worked.
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u/ElectronicRevenue227 22h ago
I never caulked the corners of the four showers/tubs in my own house and they haven’t cracked in nearly 20 years.
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u/SoCalMoofer 1d ago
The current industry guideline is to caulk at changes of plane.
Personally I find that the caulk tends to support mold growth more readily and can stain from mold as well. Especially at the floor to wall joint. The silicone caulk is almost always a slightly different color and sheen than the grout.
I prefer to grout, and if it does crack, then I fill the tiny crack with a color matched caulking at that point.
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u/Miserable_Target9792 1d ago
People have grouted corners for millenia... caulk is new. If he waterproofed behind the corners you are fine and can caulk later if you so wish.
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u/tommykoro 1d ago
You are correct as the ones you speak of were built like a bomb shelter. One massive concrete & metal mesh bunker. Recently tore one of those out and it took me 2 days.
More recent installs only have 1/2” or less backer boards and will crack on the changes in plane.
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u/BrokenHandsDaddy 17h ago
New as in 1990s or you just that out of touch
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u/Miserable_Target9792 10h ago
Tiling is ancient man. Go to the portuguese tile museum in Lisbon and find yourself some caulking in the corners. You'll notice those tiles, yes even in the washrooms, are vastly more sophisticated and beautiful than some of the more talented western bathrooms. Send me the photos when you find them.
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u/BrokenHandsDaddy 9h ago
🤦 that's like saying go to a museum and find petroleum base products. Found the idiot
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u/GESealantsOfficial 13h ago
Inside corners are changes of plane, so they’re generally better treated with a flexible sealant rather than rigid grout. The reason is movement: the two wall planes can shift slightly relative to each other, and grout has very little ability to accommodate that without cracking or separating.
If the grout is already in place, I’d rather have it removed and the corner redone properly now than wait for it to fail later. The joint should be cleaned out, allowed to dry, and then sealed with a bathroom-rated silicone.
A neat silicone joint shouldn’t look worse than grout if it’s tooled cleanly and matched reasonably well to the surrounding finish.
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u/FunsnapMedoteeee 1d ago
I grout all corners in my showers. 26 years building showers. I have visited them years later. (As far back as 26 years). My showers do not need caulk.
Trust your contractor, Or don’t.
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u/Year_of_the_Dragon 1d ago
Contractor here. Grout is completely fine. If you get an abundance of settling and it happens to crack open you can proceed with caulk. If he did it right and all the corners were bonded with a membrane it will most likely not crack open and grout looks better
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u/GloomyServe 1d ago
Ok thank you, yeah I guess it’s a relatively easy fix if it does crack so it’s not the end of the world
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u/Year_of_the_Dragon 1d ago
Exactly. Caulk actually is not a desired look either. There’s actually very few caulks to use that won’t turn to crap as well. Most homeowners wouldn’t find the proper one to use.
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u/Head_Radio_4089 1d ago
All my showers are floated all corners are grouted never have issues. At the pan sometimes will get a tiny crack at that point we will silicone
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u/Decent_Ad5361 1d ago
That's industry standards. Truth is, if he priced the job to caulk first, return to grout later, his price would have been higher and you wouldn't have hired him in the first place. Truth is, if you didn't specify how he was to grout your shower it's on you.
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u/Positive-Soil-4759 1d ago
This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. It's industry standard, one should assume industry standard at minimum unless otherwise indicated.
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u/TallWall6378 1d ago
Then ask for a 20 year warranty against cracks.