What’s the Right Type of Caulk to Use for Showers?
There are two different types of caulks that you can use for showers and bathtubs. Pick the wrong one, and you will have an ugly mess that looks like it was created by a drunken handyman. Pick the right one, along with some practice using it, and you can have a professional look and a watertight seam.
The confusion comes from the fact that both types have silicone in them. Silicone is a rubbery, waterproof, durable adhesive. It’s a good thing.
But pure silicone caulk has two problems about it, despite its durability. One is that that it comes in a very limited range of colors. Black, white, dark brown and maybe gray. That’s it. If you are planning a custom shower installation, you don’t want to be told that your color choices are that limited.
The second problem is that it’s very, very, VERY difficult to use correctly and make it look good. The only guys I’ve seen who consistently manage to make it look sleek and professional are the shower glass door installers. They use it all day every day and usually get it right. The average homeowner….not so much!
Trust me, the really truly ugly caulk jobs you’ve seen were usually homeowners who wandered into the hardware store, asked for caulk, bought pure silicone and went out and tried the stuff themselves. It can’t be ‘tooled’, touched in any way after you dispense it from the caulk gun. If you try, you just make it worse. It’s so horribly difficult, we don’t even try. There are special techniques for using it, but they are awkward and time and money consuming.
The kind the store should sell you, the kind we use and almost every professional tile company uses, is sold at tile stores. It’s called siliconized latex caulk. Much, MUCH more user friendly. It’s water soluble before it dries, so you can sponge it to look smoother and smoother until it looks perfect. And it comes in every color of the rainbow, to exactly match the grout color. And clean up is easy with water. It still has silicone in it, to make it waterproof after drying. But it has enough latex to make it ‘workable’ and clean up-able, if that’s a word.
Unlike pure silicone, it also comes in two varieties (sanded and unsanded) to match the texture of the nearby grout. Tile stores sell both sanded and unsanded latex caulk. Big Box stores like Home Depot and Lowes usually only have a small selection, but most real tile stores have the full line of colors and textures to match your tile the best.
If you live in the general Boston area and want a recaulking or regrouting job done, you can do it yourself or have us do it for you. For instant quotes, just fill in our handy dandy contact form below. Or if you prefer to talk to us directly, our phone number is 617-500-9271.
Towns where Boston Grout does re-caulking : Boston, Brookline, Milton, Wellesley, Newton, Weston, Wayland, Dover, Concord, Acton, Lincoln, Lexington, Bedford, Westford, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Winchester, Belmont, Woburn, Waltham, Ashland, Framingham, Sherborn, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Walpole, Norwood, Westwood, Sharon, Stoneham, Foxborough, Foxboro, Canton, Stoughton, Needham, Ashland, Chestnut Hill, Natick, Sudbury, Maynard, Stow, Watertown, Dedham, West Roxbury, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, Randolph, Weymouth, Cohasset, Scituate, Braintree, Holbrook, Quincy, Rockland, Hanover, Hingham, Medway, Franklin, Wrentham, Medford, Malden, Everett, Revere, Charlestown, Winthrop, Chelsea, Melrose, Saugus, Peabody, Marblehead, Ipswich, Swampscott, Lynn, Wakefield, Tewksbury, Woburn, Burlington, Reading, Lynnfield, Wilmington, Middleton, Wenham, Hamilton, Essex, Manchester, Gloucester, Topsfield, Boxford, Boxborough, Boxboro, Rowley, Georgetown, Andover, North Andover, Haverhill, Carlisle, Billerica, Ayer, Harvard, Lawrence, Methuen, Salem, Beverly, Salisbury, Amesbury, Newbury, Newburyport, Harvard, Lancaster, Bolton, Franklin, Mendon, Newtonville, Hopedale and Milford.
But, you cry, ‘what are the zipcodes that go along with those town names?? Don’t leave us in suspense!’
OK, OK, here they are!
02138, 02139, 02140, 02141, 02142, 02141, 02141, 02140, 02140, 02163, 02108, 02109, 02110, 02111, 02113, 02114, 02115, 02116, 02118, 02119, 02120, 02121, 02122, 02124, 02125, 02127, 02128, 02133, 02163, 02199, 02203, 02210, 02215, 02222, 02283, 02284, 02126, 02129, 02130, 02131, 02132, 02134, 02135, 02136, 02128, 02127, 02215, 02128, 02127, 02420, 02421, 02458, 02459, 02461, 02462, 02464, 02465, 02459, 02460, 02461, 02462, 02464, 02465, 02459, 02461, 02462, 02464, 02466, 02467, 02468, 02459, 02459, 02465, 02478, 02446, 02445, 02447, 02143, 02144, 02145, 01801, 01890, 02155, 02155, 02155, 02148, 01803, 01730, 01731, 01821, 01862, 01862, 01862, 01810, 01845, 01845, 01742, 01742, 01742, 01741, 01720, 01718, 01719, 01720, 01720, 01776, 01776, 01776, 01864, 01867, 01701, 01702, 01701, 01701, 01752, 02184, 02184, 02184, 02184, 02184, 02169, 02170, 02171, 02171, 02171, 02171,
02169, 02169, 02169, 02186, 02186, 02067
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