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Started By
Message
Mold growing underneath shower caulk
Posted on 12/11/24 at 8:27 am
Posted on 12/11/24 at 8:27 am
I'm in a rental built in 2022 that has a shower only in the MBR. It's tiled in, with an oversized rectangular shower pan in the bottom. When I was doing walkthrough inspection, I noticed weep holes in the wet area of the shower, which I hadn't seen before in any house I've owned, including ones I had built in 2014 and 2010. The caulk joint between the tile and shower pan is clear, and approx 1" from the base of the shower.
Mold has been appearing underneath the clear caulk, and it keeps getting worse. I've tried hitting it with bleach, a pumice stone, etc., and it's clearly not on the outside of the caulk.
I had thought about stripping out the caulk and re-doing it, but that was probably done after the last tenants given the rate of growth I've seen in two months, so it'd probably be a waste, as it would just recur again.
1. Is it normal to have tile weep holes in the wet areas of showers in newer builds (TX, Ft. Bend county?) Especially near the floor, it seems as all that will cause is I'm pouring water behind the wall every time I take a shower.
2. There seems to be something off about the drainage of the shower pan, too. It's very flat (I haven't taken a level to it, but it doesn't drain like any properly sloped surface I've seen), and there will often be a small amount of standing water in certain areas 12 hours after I've taken a shower. I'm pretty sure the rest just evaporates rather than drains, based on the amount of Damp Rid I go through. If I ask the landlord to fix it, what would be a proper request? I don't want to open with, "you need to rip out the shower and start again."
I'm guessing the home is out of builder warranty, but haven't asked yet.
Mold has been appearing underneath the clear caulk, and it keeps getting worse. I've tried hitting it with bleach, a pumice stone, etc., and it's clearly not on the outside of the caulk.
I had thought about stripping out the caulk and re-doing it, but that was probably done after the last tenants given the rate of growth I've seen in two months, so it'd probably be a waste, as it would just recur again.
1. Is it normal to have tile weep holes in the wet areas of showers in newer builds (TX, Ft. Bend county?) Especially near the floor, it seems as all that will cause is I'm pouring water behind the wall every time I take a shower.
2. There seems to be something off about the drainage of the shower pan, too. It's very flat (I haven't taken a level to it, but it doesn't drain like any properly sloped surface I've seen), and there will often be a small amount of standing water in certain areas 12 hours after I've taken a shower. I'm pretty sure the rest just evaporates rather than drains, based on the amount of Damp Rid I go through. If I ask the landlord to fix it, what would be a proper request? I don't want to open with, "you need to rip out the shower and start again."
I'm guessing the home is out of builder warranty, but haven't asked yet.
4
Posted on 12/11/24 at 8:41 am to LemmyLives
Bleach (apparently) doesn't truly kill mold. Only distilled white vinegar does (which I've used in the past with fairly good results).
Regardless, it will need to be recaulked b/c you're not getting the stains out and the water has clearly gone under the caulk.
Regardless, it will need to be recaulked b/c you're not getting the stains out and the water has clearly gone under the caulk.
Posted on 12/11/24 at 10:37 am to idlewatcher
What I'm trying to avoid is recaulking the thing every 60 days.
Posted on 12/11/24 at 10:38 am to LemmyLives
quote:
. Is it normal to have tile weep holes in the wet areas of showers in newer builds
Not to my knowledge.
Water is getting under that caulk. As it is a rental, I would call your landlord to come fix it. Otherwise, cut out the old caulk, clean out the mold, recaulk it properly this time when it is very dry. Let the caulk dry for 24 hours before using the shower again.
Posted on 12/11/24 at 4:11 pm to LemmyLives
I’ve had my share of shower failures over the years (mostly pan). After we bought my current home, I figured out the drain pan was shot and had the shower rebuilt.
Now, as a safeguard, we squeegee the walls, door, and floor after each use. Sounds like a pain, but takes less than a minute and basically eliminates the need to clean.
If you started this, bet it would limit future growth.
Now, as a safeguard, we squeegee the walls, door, and floor after each use. Sounds like a pain, but takes less than a minute and basically eliminates the need to clean.
If you started this, bet it would limit future growth.
Posted on 12/11/24 at 5:15 pm to LSUfan20005
The weep holes are a mystery to me. The mildew that grows under the edges of the caulk on the rails of my tub shower doors is an old, unwanted drunk friend at my house that shows up within a year of re-caulking. I scrape it off and re-caulk. Oh well! 
Posted on 12/11/24 at 6:54 pm to LemmyLives
All signs point to an installer that had no business saying he could build a shower.
1) no weep holes allowed (only around drain)
2) if pan is flat or nearly so, there probably isn’t a pre-slope underneath the pan either, allowing water to sit under the pan, becoming nastier by the day.
1) no weep holes allowed (only around drain)
2) if pan is flat or nearly so, there probably isn’t a pre-slope underneath the pan either, allowing water to sit under the pan, becoming nastier by the day.
Posted on 12/12/24 at 10:40 am to 9rocket
I’d like to piggyback off of this thread as I have a similar problem with mold behind the clear silicone in a glass enclosed shower. Our curb is made of quartz and the glass sits on top of the quartz. Where the quartz and glass meet, there is a bead of silicone all the way around the curb. I have a section of the silicone closest to the shower head end of the shower that has mold growing behind the silicone. The bead of silicone also goes around one of the clips of the shower glass. Would I run the risk of messing up anything if I scraped that bead of silicone up, treated and cleaned the moldy area, and then put new silicone down? I’ve always been nervous because of the glass and that clip. If something went wrong, I’d be pretty screwed as I wouldn’t know how to fix it. Is this something best left to the glass people that installed the shower glass?
Posted on 12/12/24 at 3:08 pm to damonster
You should be able to cut out all the silicone that is accessible with a razor knife or window scraper with a razor blade. If the glass is embedded in silicone, I would not try to get that out from underneath. Just cut out the accessible and recalling. That bead is merely to prevent water from going under/around the glass. Easy-Peazy.
Posted on 12/12/24 at 3:42 pm to 9rocket
I appreciate it. I thought so, but when it comes to glass I don’t really know too much. It looks simple enough until something goes wrong.
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