More on groute vs. silicone
Before undertaking a similar project, I read a few books on shower installation. None of them mentioned silicone as a grout replacement. A bead along the tile-tub margin is the only place they suggested using silicone.
After using silicone to adhere and “grout” a trivet that I made out of left-over tile pieces none of the books explained why, but, I thought of some possibilities:
- Silicone is much more difficult to apply than grout. Grouting tile is like putting the icing on a cake… You smooth it over the surface after you apply a big dab. It only takes two minutes to do a whole wall. I had to run a bead into every crevice for my trivet.
- Grout smooths better than silicone. There is the wet fingertip method, but it’s not as smooth and also leaves a film that grime seems to get stuck in.
- You CAN get a penetrating liquid silicone grout sealant that gives you the benefits of silicone without the mess as long as you apply after setting your grout and allowing it to cure.