Shower Doors

I recently tore out a tub and tub surround and made a custom shower stall in its place. My customer chose slate tiles that vary in thickness and don't have smooth faces. Any tricks or advice on how to install shower door tracks so they don't leak without using a whole case of silicon caulk?

The only way to match the track and tile would be to grind the tile or cut / grind the track. I would opt for the silicone. What is the size of gaps.

Taming silicone caulk

woodman1000 said:

I recently tore out a tub and tub surround and made a custom shower stall in its place. My customer chose slate tiles that vary in thickness and don't have smooth faces. Any tricks or advice on how to install shower door tracks so they don't leak without using a whole case of silicon caulk?

Click to expand...

Hi Woodman,
Silicone need not be messy or applied in huge amounts to be effective.

My solution involves using clear silicone caulk, by the way.

On either side of the joint to be caulked place a strip of green, or blue, painters tape. Allow a 'gap' of about 1/8" in the corner, seeing as we're talking about where the jamb meets the tile.

Next apply the silicone to the joint. Do one at a time. Then using a wet finger (a disposible vinyl glove pulled tight is convenient, but still wet it) 'pull' the joint from top to bottom in one shot.

Wipe the excess from the glove and do it again until reasonable pressure doesn't produce a large 'wave' of silicone ahead of the finger tip. By the way at this point I'd already have a paper towel taped to the wall on which I'd 'roll' wipe (sort of like a fingerprinting motion with a smear at the end) the excess silicone instead of wrapping my finger in a paper towel. That way I get more usage out of one sheet.

Next pull the tape off each side of the joint seperately, being careful to avoid the swinging mess touching anything else.

At this point you should have a perfect joint, but if you want to smooth the 'square edge' left by pulling the tape you can safely do with another judicious pass with a wet finger tip.

It's important to remember when applying the tape to have at least 1/16" of metal exposed to ensure a good joint that's over the face, not just in back (seeing as you've got gaps here).

This technique works wonderfully on round, or oval sinks, but in that case I use electrician's rubber tape because it easily conforms to the shape.

Using water based caulk on cast iron is a problem waiting to happen as the rust eventually leaches out from under, and the silicone avoids this problem.

More info than you needed, but I've worked with the sort of tiles you're talking about and built many bathrooms myself, so I hope this info is helpful.

Best regards,
Howard
http://www.howardemerson.com/

caulking

I find that caulking though a good solution is going to do what the home owners are not going to want. Being someone who likes the clean look I bet they are not going to want to see a bunch of white caulk all over there new mosaic brown tiles that have a very clean look to them. Something that someone mentioned to me which may not be practical for the long run of a job...
Using the grout and forming an edge then sealing it against it giving it a better look. Obviously this is not going to last forever as due to the angle of the grout it will eventually start to crack and what not as the door will get "moved" as it is pushed around and so eventually it will crack but if the home owner is looking for a very flush look this will give them a better appearance...
obliviously I am not a master at this so take my advice in doses.

sapling said:

I find that caulking though a good solution is going to do what the home owners are not going to want. Being someone who likes the clean look I bet they are not going to want to see a bunch of white caulk all over there new mosaic brown tiles that have a very clean look to them. Something that someone mentioned to me which may not be practical for the long run of a job...
Using the grout and forming an edge then sealing it against it giving it a better look. Obviously this is not going to last forever as due to the angle of the grout it will eventually start to crack and what not as the door will get "moved" as it is pushed around and so eventually it will crack but if the home owner is looking for a very flush look this will give them a better appearance...
obliviously I am not a master at this so take my advice in doses.

Click to expand...

Sapling,
You're correct in pointing out that the grout being used for the tiles is the best thing to use where caulking is required, except that those areas, as you pointed out, are usually prone to cracking.

The best of both worlds is to do the tile work really well so that the corners require little grout, and then using the routine I outlined, go over the grout with clear silicone, which will withstand the movement of main corners and such.

Unfortunately, where shower door jambs and tile meet, there's even more movement, and so a joint done with clear silicone caulk only stands a better chance of holding up and attracting less 'bad' attention.

HE

You can buy color-matched caulk in both sanded and unsanded. It won't be as durable as silicon, but should be more durable than grout.