Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Name Redacted]

Not that you're going to re-do the entire pan or enclosure because of a little cracked grout, but for anyone considering a tile pan or enclosure, this backer board is highly recommended: https://www.tilelines.com/wedi/

You're welcome.

Crazy, I just learned about this wedi board yesterday and we are going to use it to remodel a few industrial high moisture rooms at work. Guy who is doing the work does a ton of high end homes in the Vail valley and said he's been using this stuff exclusively for a while and loves it.

Additional question that is real estate related as well. Would it be stupid to completely rip out a tub and install a walk in shower stall, eliminating the only bath tub from the unit? I've been told that people want at least one bathtub for kids and such. This is an investment/rental condo that we will be remodeling to update over time and I'd really like to get rid of the tub but not if it'll reduce value down the road.

[Supermoon]

We're getting some mildew build up in our bathroom. Are there any good mildew-resistant paints out there? Any other good tips for fighting it?

[Timberridge]

Does the place have a walk in shower as well or just the tub shower?

The tub is really an infant to walking age thing for most people. Once kids can stand up a shower is so much easier. Though mom and dad get more wet, until kids can soap themselves.

[Name Redacted]

Does the place have a walk in shower as well or just the tub shower?

Yeah, it has another walk in shower. The tub is jetted, and slightly oversized. I've just never been a tub person and think a nicely tiled walk in shower would be pretty nice. But of course this kinda sets off a full bathroom remodel to make everything match so $$$.

[Name Redacted]

We're getting some mildew build up in our bathroom. Are there any good mildew-resistant paints out there? Any other good tips for fighting it?

Look into Kilz or Zinsser. A lot of different products.

[BigDaddy]

Look into Kilz or Zinsser. A lot of different products.

Zinsser has a great product and you can clean off the mildew with a mild bleach (use a spray bottle, but wear glasses.)

Ben Moore also has a "Bath and Spa" paint which is designed for baths. I've had great luck with the Zinsser, but used BM in many other homes, too.

[::: :::]

We're getting some mildew build up in our bathroom. Are there any good mildew-resistant paints out there? Any other good tips for fighting it?

Better exhaust fan with timer?

[Shredhead]

Additional question that is real estate related as well. Would it be stupid to completely rip out a tub and install a walk in shower stall, eliminating the only bath tub from the unit? I've been told that people want at least one bathtub for kids and such. This is an investment/rental condo that we will be remodeling to update over time and I'd really like to get rid of the tub but not if it'll reduce value down the road.

I've done it twice with no regrets. A nice tiled shower looks so much better than a tub/shower combo.

[muted]

Does the place have a walk in shower as well or just the tub shower?

The tub is really an infant to walking age thing for most people. Once kids can stand up a shower is so much easier. Though mom and dad get more wet, until kids can soap themselves.

I dunno, my kids are not gonna give up play time in tubs for showers. It's hilarious watching them together in a tub too, I'm not going to showers for them for a long time.

Not that I have a clue what other parents do but I'm surprised on the shower thing.

[Supermoon]

Better exhaust fan with timer?

Probably could use that too.

[Supermoon]

Look into Kilz or Zinsser. A lot of different products.

Zinsser has a great product and you can clean off the mildew with a mild bleach (use a spray bottle, but wear glasses.)

Ben Moore also has a "Bath and Spa" paint which is designed for baths. I've had great luck with the Zinsser, but used BM in many other homes, too.

Thanks will check these out.

[4matic]

I dunno, my kids are not gonna give up play time in tubs for showers. It's hilarious watching them together in a tub too, I'm not going to showers for them for a long time.

Not that I have a clue what other parents do but I'm surprised on the shower thing.

You could get a plastic tub for temporary use.

[Timberridge]

That could take an hr to fill up with the shower head?

[Name Redacted]

Still not a bad idea.

[muted]

You could get a plastic tub for temporary use.

That would suck, especially to fill, and to store somewhere.

[liv2ski]

I purposely removed the tubs for showers in my rentals. Discourages the breeders and their get from bugging me. Thinking of doing the same in my home now that the jets died in the tub and it is about 25 years old in there.

[EWG]

You should remove the grout in the corner and replace it with matching silicone caulk. That is what is supposed to be used on inside corners anyway.

Who was the contractor? I'm in your area. Good contractors will honor a warranty over the Colorado required warranty of 1 year, if you have a good relationship and you ask nice. It's a pretty easy fix if you have the tools and know how.

If it's a group I know and work with I'll help guilt them into it....

[Skistack]

That Wedi shower system looks like the shit, but $1400? Goddamn!


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[::: :::]

wedi or kerdi are pretty much all i see now

[Danno]

So far I have the following answers

^^You can use a sanded caulk to fill that (edit: or unsanded if its a really small gap) many colors are available to match most common grout colors. Available at your local HD or wherever.

As you are aware I'm sure, keep an eye on that b/c if water gets down there you got problems.

Inside corners are a good location for movement joints with tile appropriate sealant

(this, of course, means regular maintenance...meaning the sealant joint needs to be redone maybe biannually depends on the exposure to temperature swings)

I just put clear silicone caulk on the cracks on our bathroom shower tiles. 1st, I don't know what I'm doing. Second, the tiles are butt-ugly so I didn't give a shit what a fix job looks like, just waiting to re-do the whole brown/grey ugliness. And the seal works....and you gotta look close to even see the shiny-ness cover job.

there should be a water membrane under the tile that connects to the shower pan below. (sometimes painted on or a dimpled plastic membrane that can grab grout)
tile & grout is not expected to be water proof on its own
so, your crack shouldn't be a huge issue if the sub-tile install was all to industry standards

the link was to an explanation of standards for installation of movement joints.

your shower moved a little and the weak spot was the corner so it cracked
use sealant to button it up
your installer probably should have done this in the first place instead of grout at the inside corner
it's probably not a huge deal

spray foam

You should remove the grout in the corner and replace it with matching silicone caulk. That is what is supposed to be used on inside corners anyway.

Who was the contractor? I'm in your area. Good contractors will honor a warranty over the Colorado required warranty of 1 year, if you have a good relationship and you ask nice. It's a pretty easy fix if you have the tools and know how.

If it's a group I know and work with I'll help guilt them into it....

Which seem a bit all over the map (I assume fred's spray foam suggestion was bullshit). Do I need to remove the existing grout? Just slap more grout on (and try to fill the crack)? Not use grout, use something else, silicone (and if so, applied as is or remove existing grout)?

Beece, as for the contractor, it's a long story (perhaps I shared it in here, dunno), but I have no desire to contact him (short story is he made a big fuck up that he never told us about, and led to a sewer backup in our home and an insurance claim, but he ghosted us before we figured out that he was responsible, so we never paid him the holdback from the contract, which conveniently was the same as our insurance deductible, so I just let the whole thing go). If you really are curious to know his name I can PM, no need for me to post it. And if you know a local guy who can do it for a reasonable fee, let me know (I can certainly fill the crack, but if removing grout is part of the program, I want none of that).

[Timberridge]

I recommend don't remove the grout yet unless it's falling out on its own. Buy a tube of sanded caulk matching the grout color and fill the gaps. If you match it correctly you won't even be able to tell difference. Unless you look at it thru a magnifying glass.

Get some painters tape and cover both sides of the grout gap and then apply caulk to get a nice crisp line and match the gap.

If it opens up again or gets bigger you may need to remove the grout.

[::: :::]

he made a big fuck up that he never told us about...

hmmmm, that complicates things



but typically
scrape grout at corner and seal with appropriate sealant

[EWG]

Here's the deal:

A wood frame wall will always move a bit. Showers vary the temperature and moisture inside the walls, and that creates a bit of movement. With the exception of Fusion grout (always use this, by the way, despite the higher price), grout really can't move much without cracking. Therefore any movement will telegraph into a crack.

If it's built right this doesn't matter much. Redguard or another painted substrate will create a waterproof drainage layer behind the tile, so even if water gets behind it'll drain down the waterproof layer and out onto the shower pan. However, not everyone builds that way (some folks are old school), and if the movement is big enough even the redguard layer could crack/fail.

I've grouted corners of some showers, because it looks better than caulk, and hoped they wouldn't crack. Almost all have. I wont' do that anymore. The International Tile Council (or whatever the hell they call themselves now) recommend no grout in corners - caulk only. The caulk can move and therefore wont' crack unless movement starts to get really big.

As for your shower, if you don't have a good waterproofing layer behind you may be ok anyway, as Colorado tends to be really dry, and your walls may dry out just from relative humidity differences. However, don't risk it. You'd be amazed at how much water gets in that little crack.

You have several options for fixing it:
Buy some clear silicone caulk. Seal up the crack. It'll work great, but won't look good and has a tendency to peel over time since there isn't enough width for it to really get inside. Likely a good fix, but only short term.

Get some non-sanded grout to match and do your best to fill the crack. If you are really, really careful you might get it pretty well filled. However, new grout does not bond well to old grout, and you could see leakage between the two due to capillary action. Also, if it cracked in 18 months you are very likely to see cracking again soon.l

Rip out the old grout and put caulk in the corner. The correct fix, but it's a pain in the ass. Has to be done with a dremmel tool or something similar. Causes a fine dust to get every-fucking-where. But it'll fix it for the life of the shower.

Paint the whole shower with redguard. negatives: looks like you have a shower out of a Halloween slasher movie, your wife will hate it and you, and it will freak out your kids. positives:looks like you have a shower out of a Halloween slasher movie, your wife will hate it and you, and it will freak out your kids.

Regarding who can do the work: I mostly have connections with larger groups, so I'm not sure who to recommend for a small fix like this. you could try Cook tile or Cook kitchens or something like that out of Longmont (I think Longmont). They do very good work.

Hope this helps. Ask if you need more.

[Danno]

hmmmm, that complicates things



but typically
scrape grout at corner and seal with appropriate sealant

It had nothing to do with this tile work, though of course it does reflect on his overall ethic. He seemed to be a standup and professional guy otherwise, and this job was permitted, FWIW.

It's a crazy long story, but the slightly less short version from the one previously shared is that we had a sewer backup, called a rooter company, they determined it was inside the house and not the main line, they scoped it and recommended some crazy expensive repair (they were total scam artists), we got a second opinion/scope and saw some some weird obstruction in the main stack inside the house. We had been sharing all this info with the contractor, even asked him for a plumber recommendation! He was done with the job at that point, had just finished, but we were considering having him do the kitchen remodel. Anyhow, we get a second rooter guy who claims he fixed it, nope, another backup and video inspection again, still there, decide we have to cut out/replace a piece of the main stack pipe (about a 3' section?), get a plumber to do that and this plumber discovers a 12" section of copper pipe (maybe 4" diameter, don't recall) inside the stack. It certainly was new to the stack or we would have had constant problems for years, plus the pipe looked new. So, during construction of the bathrooms upstairs, this piece must have fallen into the then-exposed sewer pipe at some point. Whether the contractor knew it happened at the time or not, don't know, but I am guessing he knew when we started having all those issues, because he disappeared at that point, even though my last email to him (before we discovered the source of the problem) was to remind him that we owed him $1000.

[Danno]

Beece, thanks for that info. I'll find someone, just figured I should ask since it sounded like you might have connections!