Mr. Worthy, I was hoping you'd chime in! Thank you!

Maybe I noticed the caulk in the model homes because it was too goopy, lol. Several big globs.

And all you had to say was, "block the creepy crawlies," and I was SOLD! I have an unfortunate history, in our previous house, with a largely undesirable arachnid. I will do everything in my power to avoid living in another halfway house for displaced scorpions (the first year, alone, we found and killed over 300; no joke, I kept count on a whiteboard in our laundry room).

Yikes!

Mi wife from JA. She laughed when the kids ran from our wee Canuck centipedes. In JA, poisonous 40 leggers (Scolopendra Gigantea) are the standard. (BTW, presenter's accent is clearly adopted!)

Good grief! Certainly never seen any of those in the travel brochures!!!

Grout is for gaps in the tile. If you go tile-to-wood (or any other material really), you need caulk. The two substances have drastically different flexibility and expansion characteristics. Grout will crack in such situations.

worthy - "Wherever quarter or eighth round is not used on flooring--and I try to avoid it--" - I'm curious why you try to avoid quarter round? It's pretty standard down here in Texas, at least on new builds. I personally dislike it and will try to avoid it in our new build, but curious why you avoid it too?

Standard on production build here too. It just looks neater, I think, to use the smallest trim that covers any gap.

None at all, if possible. As in the oak baseboard to granite tiles above. Caulking can work, depending on the materials.

Many custom builders use shoe moulding instead of quarter round. It costs more so you don't see it on a production build.

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BTW, the curved red oak base is a single piece, made bendable by a night soaking in Downy Fabric Softener.

Thanks Worthy. I do like the look of that shoe molding better, but my #1 preference is no molding at all. Our current quarter round looks so beat up so I just don't want to deal with it again. Just need to make sure the wood is installed close to the wall so the baseboard covers it!

Wow those pictures look so nice.... I knew I didn't like visible caulk running along every tiled surface that met the wall. :-/

Quarter round was used in the models that had wood-type flooring, but like I said, the tiled floors all had goopy messy glossy caulk. :-( Is it at least paintable?

The house we're looking at now isn't custom, it's a tract home. Options are limited, but I was asking more for reasons of proper alignment of expectations. ;-)

Some types of caulk are paintable.

I only want to see grout between tiles. Grout cracks and is a pain to re-do. Caulk stretches so not as much cracking, is paintable and just way easier to maintain from a DIY perspective. Yes, production homes must own stock in caulk companies. They use it prodigiously!

Is it okay to caulk standard 4 1/2 white baseboard to bathroom tile floor where the bug gap exists?

Yes, but I would use mould-resistant caulking in the bathroom.

Using quarter round here with tile is very common. Caulk is cheaper than quarter round of course - both labor and materials.

New house - that caulk should not be your air (insect) barrier.

Caulk in this case is a temporary gap filler

I just moved into my custom build in May. I noticed the gaps between my baseboard and ceramic tile. I would like the builder to come and fill the gaps. He told my husband because the floor is uneven, caulking wouldn't look right. It is the same in my bathroom. What do you recommend? Thank you in advance for your help.

Great thread. There are no standards but I've used base shoe, 1/4 round, caulk, grout, and scribed base to the floor depending on the build.

"Sealing" is not the purpose. During construction baseboard is installed in carpeted areas prior, usually gapped above the subfloor to allow for a clean level edge.