Quick Fix: Repair Cracked Bathroom Grout

olldbobbi I think if your repair is in a wet area, like a shower, it would be good to allow the area to dry out for a day or two before applying the caulk. Or at least hit it with a blow dryer to assure you're not sealing in moisture, no?

nan1 could one use caulk for this repair?

custom-tiles.com For additional protection, we recommend using a penetrating sealer on the grout. Quoting from The Housing Forum.com : "Penetrating sealers have the following characteristics:
•They work using a water base or mineral spirit base with little particles that penetrate directly into the grout’s granular structure. This liquid absorbs right into the porous surface of the grout. Once the base evaporates away, the latex and silicon, which are water resistant particles, stay inside of the grout, filling in little holes and preventing moisture from getting inside.
•Where showers and baths are concerned, only penetrating sealers should ever be utilized."
Some of our customers request porcelain or glass tiles for custom printed tile murals in their bathroom and shower, due their moisture resistance. But we consider this 'overkill' and suggest less expensive ceramic, as long as installation is done in a professional manner. For immersion service, we do recommend porcelain and glass.

diannedye OK to use caulk rather than grout?

barblmartin The article used caulk!

ejames4365 This sort of failure of grout joints leads to some serious problems that need to be addressed before caulking. My elderly dad's house shifted enough over time for grout to fail and he really didn't seem to notice. On a recent vacation home to visit, I found soaked Sheetrock and mold in the walls surrounding the shower and tub. Needless to say, vacation turned into bathroom renovation project. After tearing out all of the surrounding walls and bleaching everything to eliminate any mold growth, I reinstalled cement board surround and waterproofing and retiled the shower/tub enclosure, put in new taps and fixtures, and repainted walls and ceiling. If I'd been home for more than a week, I would have gutted the space and installed a curbless shower, but the bathroom has vintage avocado green tile on all walls and ceiling of shower, so a patch job was the best option for quick redo- (luckily found a glass mosaic that complemented the original tile and was able to place a border that followed tub edge on the vertical and bridged the new backing at eye level on the horizontal.) The water damage extended to the adjacent living room wall, so that Sheetrock had to be replaced as well - again, old wallpaper impossible to match so went with an accent paint color on that wall. I live on the opposite coast so being home more often to catch this wasn't an option.... Lesson of the week: always always always use caulk not grout at change of plane or material when tiling (corners, floor, tub edge, etc.)

diannedye Thanks for the message of the week. Good to know!

Ana "use caulk not grout at change of plane or material when tiling (corners, floor, tub edge, etc.)"

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We had the same problem here and I fixed it the same way. Grout in corners just doesn't work. With the expansion and contraction of the house even just from temperatures, the grout doesn't flex enough in the joints. When I do new bathroom renovations, caulk will always be used in the joints.