I finally saw what 2 years of bad caulking does to a shower tile

Pulled out the old grout last weekend in my master bath and found black mold growing behind the caulk line on the floor side, has anyone else run into this with silicone vs acrylic caulk?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese866m agoMost Upvoted

Ditch that acrylic stuff immediately. I made the mistake of using acrylic in my own shower three years ago and found the same nasty black mold behind it when I finally redid it. @sarahh48 is right on the money, you gotta go with silicone for any wet area. My neighbor used acrylic on his walk-in shower and within a year the caulk started peeling up at the corners. He ended up having to pull out a whole section of floor tile because the moisture got underneath and loosened the mortar. Silicone's a pain to work with because it sticks to everything but it's worth the extra effort. Just makes sure you let it cure for a full 24 hours before getting the shower wet again.

sarahh482h ago

Silicone's the way to go, hands down. Acrylic lets moisture sneak through way too easy, especially in wet areas like shower floors. Black mold is no joke, you gotta rip it all out and start fresh with 100% silicone. That caulk line is the only thing standing between your tile and a whole lot of damage. Two years is about right for cheap caulk to fail completely.