What is the best caulk for tile to tub
doitall
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I am almost finished with my total bathroom remodel. I want to use the best caulk product for the tile to tub rim area,
I’ve never been real impressed with 100% silicone caulks. Just haven’t held up well for me in the past, and a real pain to remove and replace.
Also, do you recommend running a thin bead of caulk in the corners of the tiled tub alcove?
Your suggestions, please.
Thanks,
DIA
Replies
good question. I use white lightning... really like that product (dont like dap products: alex, alex plus). Polyseamseal is ok. Right now trying big stretch by sascho... time will tell (very pricey).
I like Dap Titanium Silicone:
http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=291
Fill the tub half full of water before caulking, caulk and leave the water in the tub overnight.
The weight of the water moves the tub. Caulking an empty tub increases the chance of a caulk failure. The half full tub means the caulk has to only stretch half as much.
I've had good luck with PolySeamSeal - it's a polyurathane, and it goes on nice.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
If your hair looks funny, it's because God likes to scratch his nuts. You nut, you.
100% silicone is the way to go...Use (GE or Dap?) Kitchen & Bath Silicone II. It's got fungicides in it---won't mold. Clean the tub and tile edge WELL w/ alcohol or acetone first. I like to mask the caulk line first on both sides, apply the caulk heavy and use a finger to press it well into the void. Then a final tooling w/ an alcohol-dipped finger and rip the tape. Does a beautiful job every time. Filling the tub first w/ water is not a bad idea either--especially w/ an acrylic tub.Polyurethane caulks are great as well, but for a tub are a bit over-kill IMO (and messy, and difficult to use). And Paul...Polyseamseal is a water-based caulk, not a polyurethane. But their Tub-n-Tile is pretty good stuff...just not as good as silicone.
I believe that the 2 main reasons for tub caulk failure is not installing a 2 X 4 ledger to hold the rim of the tub on a wood floor.
Also, not sealing the grout in between the tile.
Moisture that get behind the caulks will pop it off. Regular grout will crack if there is movement, but it will let moisture out and in turn grow mildew.