Caulk Tube Ooze Fix
Venting the trapped factory air behind a caulk tube’s plunger with a small X cut so the bead stops when the trigger does.
Caulk Tile's Inside Corners — Grouted Corners Are Built to Crack
Every change of plane in a tile job moves, and grout can't. The tile standard calls for flexible sealant at inside corners — 100% silicone in wet areas — with backer rod in the joint first.
grout keeps cracking in the corners, grout falling out of shower corners, recaulk the shower, where tile meets the tub
The Problem
Cracked grout lines running up a shower's inside corners aren't bad luck — they're physics. A tile assembly expands and contracts with temperature and moisture, and it moves most where two planes meet. Grout is rigid, so when you pack it into a corner, you've locked the assembly against movement it's going to make anyway. The corner cracks first; locked in hard enough, the failure can go deeper than cosmetics.
The Technique
The tile standard (ANSI) is explicit — every change of plane gets a flexible joint, not grout:
- Grout the field, caulk the corners. Wall-to-wall corners, wall-to-floor, wall-to-tub, around penetrations — any place the plane changes, the joint gets sealant.
- In wet areas, use 100% silicone. Urethane and polysulfide sealants are also standards-approved; silicone is the common choice for showers.
- Backer rod first in wider joints. The foam rod fills the depth so the sealant forms a proper joint that can stretch, instead of a solid plug that can't.
The flexible joint absorbs the movement, the grout in the field stays uncracked, and the shower ages the way the tile promised it would.
Pro tip: "I've grouted corners for 20 years and never had a callback" is the standard objection — but as the creator points out, homeowners don't call the tile setter when a corner cracks years later; they call it aging. Color-matched caulk in sanded and unsanded textures exists for nearly every grout line, so the corner doesn't even have to look different.
DIYsolvr helps you find the best DIY videos. Browse all 526 techniques