Howdy all,
My dad installed a shower in his house. It came in three pieces or more. He used clear caulk and it still looks ugly. The caulk dried and is black. Two things I would like to know 1. can u get this off somehow
2. We are installing one soon what should we use.
please help…
A three piece shower in kit form? What will Heathkit come up with next?
There should be instructions on the tube that the caulk came in as to what removes it once it has cured, but when I removed mine I used some special jelly-like goop that came in a can with skelleton heads all over it. That loosened it to the point where I could scrape it away with a plastic tool.
The best person to ask is the guy who hangs out in the tile & grout aisle of the hardware store.
Recent polls revealed that some people have never been polled, until recently.
I installed a similar bath surround unit in my house about 1 1/2 years ago and used white “anti-mildew” caulk. After awhile, usually about a year, mildew will still form on and in the caulk no matter how well you prepared the surface before application. The anti-mildew chemicals usually wear off after about a year (read the label when you buy)and the caulk will eventually discolor if you use colored soaps or shampoos. The only thing you can do to stave off discoloration is to clean your shower/bath frequently with approved cleaners (usually this means no ammonia) and have good air circulation in the bathroom to promote fast drying of wet surfaces.
A good resource to find stuff like this is at www.doityourself.com. There are other sites that are pretty good too, like the HomeTime TV show site (www.hometime.com).
Good Luck!
“It’s only common sense,
There are no accidents 'round here.”
thank you both…I am so sure dad read the tube but I am not ready yet to do the shower. I saw his and really dont want mine to look the same.
Think about it, Opus. How would YOU manage to maneuver a one-piece shower stall into YOUR house? Got a wall or two you don’t mind tearing down?
The one-piecers have the obvious advantages of being relatively leak-proof and of requiring very little caulking. But they’re notoriously difficult to get into the damn bathroom.
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…
T
Usually you can shave off the old caulk with a single edged razor blade if you’re careful. You don’t have to get every last bit of it since you’ll be laying new stuff over it. I’ve done my tubs every couple of years and I’ve NEVER found anything that looks good forever.
“Hope is not a method”
Use silicone caulk, not latex. It seals better and lasts longer.
Before drying, it can be removed w/ denatured alcohol. After dry, you need a razor blade.
Colored (it’s available in lots of colors) almost always looks better than clear. Imperfections in depth are very noticeable in clear, as well as whatever is behind.
[quote]
Think about it, Opus.**
I was thinking that it should have come in more pieces, not a single piece. The sliding doors I installed came in eight or ten pieces and I consider that to be part of the shower assembly. Add the basin, towel rack and all the fixtures and that should come to more than three pieces.
That’s all I was thinking…
When will all the rhetorical questions end?
TBone2,
I laughed hard when I read your reply. The reason …laughing…we have two bathrooms and after seeing how my dads turned out. I made my hubby get a one piece tub and shower. The roof is about all we didnt have to remove. So for upstairs, I have given in to a three piece laughing.
The caulk itself is not black, that is mildew growing on it. Use bleach, 1 cup to a gallon, spray it on, let it dry, presto! Clean.
The caulk itself is not black, that is mildew growing on it. Use bleach, 1 cup to a gallon, spray it on, let it dry, presto! Clean.
If your concern is more how to avoid making mistakes than correcting them. (applying caulk so it looks good, as opposed to scraping out the disaster in your dads job) I have a couple suggestions.
First ignore the advice on using pure silicone. Sure it is the best, lasts forever cleans easily and is mildew resistant. But it is a real bitch to master. It’s very sticky and gets all over everything. Couple that with the fact that it is a real pain to wipe up while wet and needs to be gouged out when dry. It is best you leave it to the pros, or wait till you can lay a decent bead yourself.
Go with a high quality siliconized latex. I specifically recomend Alex plus. It has a great consistancy and is easy to lay a neat bead with. Mistakes wash off with water.
Tape a margin out with masking tape before starting. A pro might sneer at this but it works. After you lay your bead and smooth it you can peel off the tape and have perfect straight seams.
Good tools make good work. Get a good quality gun, dont forget to twist the bar a 1/4 turn after laying a bead. This will relieve the pressure and keep the caulk from oozing out while the gun is sitting on the floor.
You may want to practice laying a corner bead on a cardboard box before you start to geet a feel for the gun and the flow rate.
Get some extra and go at it. Have fun and remember if you dont like it, wipe it off with a wet sponge and do it over.
Evil,
Great advice, I would have never thought of the masking tape. If the black is mildew on his shower it doesnt look like it. It looks llke ink stains almost.
Don’t believe the tubes of caulk when they say “will last 20 years” or whatever. Sure, it’ll last there 20 years, but it’s seal won’t. Plan on recaulking every year or two; better a little work that a ruined sub-floor and the walls behind the surround.