With any home purchase, there are plenty of positives and hopefully few negatives — and ours was no exception. Our house has excellent potential and good bones, but with those positives we also endured many defects, such as banged-up walls, scratched laminate flooring and a dilapidated porch. Another unfortunate attribute was breaking grout in the corners of the shower where tile meets. Not only was this an eyesore, but if left unfixed, it could have caused water damage to the property’s structure.
Meg Padgett
As a result of house moving and shifting during its life span, cracking in inflexible materials is a given. In this case, grout was utilized in the corners of the shower where every side of the shower meet, leading to massive cracks in the water barrier.
Meg Padgett
To fix the cracked grout, we used:
• Caulking gun
• Scraping tool (you can also use a razor blade)
• Non-Sanded Ceramic Tile Caulk
Meg Padgett
We scraped out the present failing grout from the opening. We then cleaned up any debris and then spilled the surface clean.
Meg Padgett
That left us with a fresh surface and an opening of approximately 1/8 inch.
Meg Padgett
Then we implemented the caulk into the opening. The tile caulk is siliconized grout to allow for the application to bend with the property’s movement without breaking.
Hint: Utilize a color match manual to match the present grout into the tile caulk. You can pick one up in the tile and grout section of a house repair shop.
Meg Padgett
Eliminate excess caulk with a tool designed for this purpose, or just your finger (in our case, it did a great job). Use a damp cloth to clean off any residual caulk and also to smooth the end. Let the caulk dry, keeping it free from any water contact to your manufacturer’s recommended period.
Meg Padgett
This simple fix was indeed quick — it took under 30 minutes — and also our shower is back to looking great and protecting our house from potential water damage.
More Quick Fixes:
Reupholster a Chair Seat
How to Patch a Drywall Hole
