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So I have a bathroom that has a tile floor, a small tile baseboard, and a tiled shower that has tile on the walls and floor.

The builder used grout everywhere and so after a while, pretty much all of the grout where the wall meets the floor is cracked. I started researching and it seems that I should be using caulk at the change in planes.

So I was originally going to use silicone, but then found a mapei siliconized acrylic that color matched my current grout. Should I be using just that, or silicone, or use that first and put a thin layer of silicone over it?

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    Just use caulk that is suitable for tile/bath/showers so it does not grow mold. That kind of caulk usually comes in silicone and is paintable. If you can already find the color closest to your grout and it is suitable for wet environments so it won't grow mold, then even better.
    – Engineer2021
    Feb 2, 2015 at 20:01
  • I prefer to use color-matched sanded caulk to blend in with the grout. Most tile places sell this.
    – DA01
    Nov 30, 2015 at 19:26

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I would use the color matched acrylic everywhere except the shower stall. In the shower, I'd touch up with regular grout and then apply clear silicone. (Just be sure that the shower area is completely dry/clean before you apply the silicone.)

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  • 1- Assume you would just use the silicone in the corners, vertices, and not over all of the grout?
    – NinjaCat
    Feb 3, 2015 at 4:31
  • As for being dry, it's been a day and I've chipped away at the grout, the stuff coming up, and it's still damp So I've put a space heater in there for a bit to dry to dry it out.
    – NinjaCat
    Feb 3, 2015 at 4:32
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    Yes, just the corners -- not all over. And sometimes these things do take surprisingly long to dry. Space heater good; you might have to resort to a hair dryer if you're getting pressed for time.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Feb 3, 2015 at 4:40
  • While clear caulk may offer the waterproofing, you'd still end up seeing the cracked grout.
    – DA01
    Nov 30, 2015 at 19:27

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