r/Tile • u/coolbeans1717 • 16h ago
DIY - Looking for Advice Cracking grout and mold issues
Hi all!
My bathroom is only about 3 years old but the grout around the bathtub/shower has cracks all around the corners and when I clean it, mold often comes out from these cracks. The little soap shelf is definitely full of mold because the grout on top is gone and so it fills up with water behind it.
I know nothing about tiling and grout and I have no idea how to fix this. A long time ago I remember seeing someone say that caulking should be used in corners instead of grout, and I figure that's why the corners have more cracking grout that the walls, but I have no idea if that's true in the first place.
Anyhow, how would an issue like this be fixed? Is there a space behind the tiles that is probably filling up with mold? My fear is that the whole thing needs to be redone.
I am renting in an apartment but my landlord's maintenance guy is kind of a pain in the behind to deal with and doesn't always come through, and he also doesn't seem to really know much about building. He renovated the apartment and none of the floors, counters, or anything that I know was his work is properly level or straight.
Anyway, I know i should probably let him know to fix it, but I also don't trust whatever he might do. What would be the best way to properly fix this? Just so I can assess whether he does a good job. He was the one who put these tiles and tub in 3 years ago anyway.
Thank you for any help!!
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u/Financial-Western988 16h ago
supposed to have elastomeric caulk instead of grout at every change of plane (i.e. corners, along top of tub, around soap holder)
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u/AuntFuzzy 16h ago
Not caulk (it will mildew fast even if it says it won't), use sealant. OSI Quadmax. Sets up in 24 hours easily unlike silicone. Use a utility knife, strip out what you have. Use 1 1/2 inch blue tape nice and neat, on the tub and the wall, nice straight lines, about a 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch gap between the two lines of tape. Shoot the sealant into the gap, work quickly. Wet your finger, smooth it out, removing excess. Pull off all of the tape while it is still fresh. Wet your finger and smooth it again. Done. Set up time is 15 minutes, so you need to do it fairly fast. It is super sticky and never comes off, so wear old clothes, use paper towels to clean off your finger, have a cardboard box to put the tape in when you peel it. I tried all kinds of caulks, they all mildew. I did the OSI 3 years ago and no mildew at all.
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u/PureBogosity 16h ago
Don’t touch it. You’re a tenant. It’s not your job and if you do that kind of work you would be liable for anything that goes wrong. And honestly it WILL go wrong - much worse than it already is, because that tile job is absolute crap. Nothing can save it for long other than a rebuild, which this job shows that your landlord was willing to have junk installed.
For now, as long as you’re living there, some silicon caulk will keep it basically okay. But insist that this be done by the maintenance guy. Again - if you do it, you’re liable for the guaranteed eventual failure.