Cracking Up and Getting Sealed
So it has been almost a year since we finished tiling the Master Bathroom shower and, of course, our tiling fear came true. It cracked. Not that it wasn't to be expected, every corner of this house has cracked at some point and a crack in the same place was what started us on renovating that bathroom in the first place.
It's essential that you don't put off fixing a crack, the longer you wait the more water seems into the surrounding mortar, weakens it and makes everything much worse. Even though we stopped using the shower, when we dug out the mortar it was soaking wet.
How to fix it? First you have to make it bigger. Using a dremel tool with a specific attachment for removing grout, we opened it up.
You can see the crack ran the entire length of the shower between the floor and the wall and then up over the threshold!
After making the crack much bigger, we whipped up a batch of grout from the leftover grout we had laying around from finishing the tiling last year (this is why it is good to either keep track of the color of grout you used or keep some around for awhile!).
So, using a trowel we just squished it down into the gap. Then using a wet sponge you smooth and shape the grout into a nice concave surface. Make sure that no grout dries anywhere that you don't want it or you're not going to be happy. Just like that the hard part is over! Nothing to fear with tiling cracks, except remembering your grout color.
Technically, you should wet the grout daily for a few days to prevent cracking but we skipped that step.
Now, we had to seal the grout to prevent water from seeping in. Sealing is a must for porous tile like the natural travertine that we used for the shower so that you don't get more cracks! We only put one coat on the first time and we've noticed that some places change color when they get wet. If tile changes color, water is getting through so it is time to reseal anyway.
There are actually two different kinds of tile sealer for natural tile which makes things tricky. One kind leaves the tile exactly the way it is, and "Enhancer" makes the tile look the way it does when it is wet. So dunk half your tile in water and see which side you like better. On the subway tile we went with the regular kind and on the accent tile in the stripe we enhanced to make it more obviously different from the subway tile.
So once you choose a sealer, it is time to apply. The first time we applied, I used a spray bottle but this time went with a foam brush to really get in all those nooks and crannies. So it was just dip and brush, then you have to wipe it down with a clean white towel within 5 minutes of applying.
And there you have it, a crack free, sealed shower.
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