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I have a tiled standing shower in my bathroom and the grout is starting to crack in some areas, so I would like to repair it. The grout between the tiles is sanded grout, but the material in the joints (connecting the tiles to the floor) feels more flexible than the grout. It also has a bit of a sheen to it.

unidentifed material in my shower

There is silicone caulking along the connection between the tiles and the door which feels more rubbery than the unidentified material. Is there anything else besides grout and caulk that might have been used in the shower?

In case it helps, the house is in the US and was built within the past ten years.

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  • I'm not sure what you're asking. "Caulk" is a huge range of things (the word just means "material that plugs gaps"). Some is sanded and colored to match your grout. What problem are you trying to solve?
    – isherwood
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 2:07
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    I think I’ve identified that the material between the tiles and door is silicone caulk, and that the material between two tiles is sanded grout. The third material feels grittier than the silicone caulk, but more rubbery than the sanded grout. Since there are holes/cracks in the third material as well, I would like to identify the third material so that I can patch it. Is it just sanded and colored caulk?
    – Sharon
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 2:19
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    It looks to me like someone smeared silicone up the tile doing a bit of an ametureish job of it - like I've done when doing my own caulking sometimes. It may have been intentional to provide "extra" seal, it may have been a mistake.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 14:19
  • It's standard practice to use grout between tiles but use caulk were walls meet floors because there is flexing between the two surfaces and grout would crack.
    – Steve Wellens
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 16:33

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My guess is that you have some sanded, color-matched caulk there. It may be latex or urethane-based.

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  • I agree with this, a specialty caulk with aggregate specifically to match sanded grout; a newish product...
    – Jimmy Fix-it
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 15:36
  • Thanks very much!I took a look around based on the answers - does something like this look right? Hydroment Color Matched Caulk by Colorfast (Sanded) (H168 Silver Bullet) smile.amazon.com/dp/B0176SDPHI/… Any other recommendations of brands/types that have worked well for a job like this?
    – Sharon
    Commented Dec 24, 2020 at 0:59

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