Pro Handyman Blog

If you are caulking your shower, take a few extra minutes and take a look at the hardware coming out of your shower wall. You may have some gaps around these areas that could lead to water damage.

Any opening at your shower wall is a potential way for water to enter the wall, and that is something we want to avoid. These are areas like the shower handles, tub spout diverter, and the shower arm. Caulking is the answer.

If you have an uneven surface for your shower walls, such as stone or ceramic tile grout lines, where the escutcheon meets the grout lines there will by small openings. It’s also possible that a poor installation job of the shower valve has made the valve not in the same plane as the wall’s surface.

Pick a color that closely matches the wall. You could use clear silicone caulking but you will still see the gaps even though they are protected by the caulking. I prefer to use the minimum amount necessary to get the job done. It should be attractive as well as functional. You don’t want a big glob of caulking around the shower handles…its ugly and at some point you will have to re-caulk it and that will take a long time to remove.

Use a small amount of caulking around the perimeter of the escutcheon, wet your finger and slightly push it into the gaps. The final appearance should be uniform on all penetrations.