Tub & Shower Full Re-Seal
A tub and shower full re-seal is the service that strips every horizontal and vertical bead in the wet zone, treats substrate mildew with a quaternary ammonium cleaner, lays fresh 100% mildew-resistant silicone on every joint, and runs a low-flow water test before the truck leaves — starting at $200 with a 48-hour cure. The job is for the wet zone that has gone past spot repair — every horizontal joint, every vertical corner, the soap niche perimeter, the grab-bar mounting flange, the gap at the ceiling cove where humid air drips. After seven to ten years a tub or shower stops needing a single seam re-caulked and starts needing every seam re-done at the same time. Handis strips, treats, dries with a heat gun, re-beds every seam, dry-tools each one, and proves the work with a water test. Most full re-seals finish in 2 to 3 hours.
Service
What Does a Full Tub or Shower Re-Seal Include?
A full tub or shower re-seal is a one-visit reset of every joint in the wet zone — tub-to-tile, tub-to-wall, vertical wall corners, shower-pan-to-wall, soap-niche perimeter, grab-bar flange, and ceiling-to-wall coving where present — stripped, mildew-treated, re-bedded in 100% silicone, and proven with a low-flow water test before the truck leaves. It is the right call when more than 30 percent of the wet-zone bead is failing — visible mildew at multiple joints, beads pulling away from the substrate at multiple corners, or the homeowner has not been able to remember the last time the seams were re-done. Spot repair on a 10-year-old shower with three failed joints is a 60-day fix because the unmolested seams are 60 days from failing themselves. The full re-seal resets the wet zone for another 7 to 10 years.
Every Joint in the Wet Zone, Stripped
Tub-to-tile horizontal seam. Tub-to-wall front and back. All three or four vertical wall corners. Shower-pan-to-wall on the floor. Soap-niche perimeter (the corners where the niche meets the field tile). Grab-bar mounting flange if one is installed. Ceiling-to-wall coving in steam-prone showers. Every bead comes out with a utility blade plus a silicone-specific solvent. The substrate gets a denatured-alcohol wipe and a dry-down before any new product touches it.
Full Mildew Remediation Prep
Visible mildew on the substrate under the failed bead does not disappear when you cover it — it grows through. We treat every spot with a quaternary ammonium cleaner (the hospital-grade chemistry used in OR disinfection — Spartan NABC, Diversey Virex, or similar), let it dwell the full ten minutes per label, rinse, and dry with a heat gun on low until the surface reads dry to a moisture meter. Bleach alone fades the stain but does not kill the organism in the porous substrate; the new bead will mold through inside six months.
Substrate Inspection — Soft Spots Get Surfaced
Before any new bead, we press every section of substrate we can reach. Soft drywall behind a fiberglass tub flange, swollen MDF behind a vanity-adjacent wall, delaminated tile backer board behind a re-caulked corner — any one of these means the structure behind the joint is compromised and a cosmetic re-seal is a 90-day cover, not a fix. We tell you on arrival, route the work to drywall or tile, and re-seal after that work lands.
100% Mildew-Resistant Silicone, Every Joint
Every joint gets the same product — GE Supreme Kitchen & Bath or DAP Kwik Seal Ultra, both 100% silicone with mildew-resistance built in. Different joints get different bead profiles (a smaller concave bead at vertical wall corners, a slightly heavier bead at the horizontal pan-to-wall seam where standing water collects), but the chemistry is identical across the wet zone.
Water Test Before We Leave
After the final bead is tooled, the silicone gets 60 to 90 minutes to skin while we clean up the bathroom and pack out. Before we leave, we run a low-flow water test against every joint — handheld showerhead at low flow, directed at each corner and seam — and watch for any visible failure (a bead lifting, water bead-up against the silicone instead of a flat wet line, a pinhole defect). The skin is firm enough at 90 minutes to take this test without damage. Anything that fails the test gets touched up on the spot. Standing water exposure waits the full 48 hours.
How a Full Tub & Shower Re-Seal Works
Six sequential steps from stripping every joint in the wet zone to the final low-flow water test against the finished bead — the actual sequence we follow on every full re-seal.
Strip Every Joint in the Wet Zone
Tub-to-tile, tub-to-wall front and back, every vertical wall corner, shower-pan-to-wall, soap-niche perimeter, grab-bar flange, ceiling-to-wall coving on steam showers. Every bead comes out with a utility blade plus silicone-specific solvent. The strip is 60 minutes; that is the work.
Treat Every Mildew Spot with Hospital-Grade Disinfectant
Quaternary ammonium cleaner (Spartan NABC, Diversey Virex, or equivalent) on the full ten-minute label dwell at every visible mildew location. Bleach alone fades the stain but does not kill the organism in the porous substrate — the new bead molds through inside six months without proper remediation.
Dry the Substrate with a Heat Gun
Rinse the disinfectant residue and dry with a heat gun on low until a moisture meter confirms the substrate reads dry. Fresh silicone laid on a damp substrate fails inside weeks because the moisture under the bead prevents the bead from achieving full adhesion to the wall.
Press-Test the Substrate for Soft Spots
Press every section of substrate we can reach. Soft drywall behind a fiberglass tub flange, swollen MDF, delaminated tile backer — any of these means the wall behind is compromised and a cosmetic re-seal is a 90-day cover. We route the work to drywall or tile first when needed.
Lay 100% Mildew-Resistant Silicone on Every Joint
Every joint gets the same product — GE Supreme Kitchen and Bath or DAP Kwik Seal Ultra — with bead profile varied by location (smaller concave bead at vertical corners, heavier bead at the horizontal pan-to-wall seam where standing water collects). Dry-tool each one with a Cramer profile tool.
Run the Low-Flow Water Test Before Leaving
After the silicone has skinned 60 to 90 minutes, run a handheld showerhead at low flow against every joint we sealed. A properly-adhered bead beads water uniformly with a flat wet line at the silicone edge. Anything that fails the test gets touched up on the spot. Real shower use waits 48 hours.
Tub & Shower Re-Seal Pricing
Final pricing depends on shower size, the number of joints, whether the ceiling cove is included, and how much mildew remediation prep the substrate needs. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us tub or shower, size, and last time it was re-caulked — we will quote the full re-seal.
Why Handis for Full Tub & Shower Re-Seal
A spot repair on a 10-year-old shower lasts about 60 days. The customer thinks the leak is at the one visible corner that has gone black. We come, redo that corner — and 60 days later they call about a different corner that has just started to lift. The truth is every joint in a shower fails on roughly the same calendar because every joint sees the same water exposure, the same daily cleaning chemicals, the same daily expansion-contraction from hot water. When the call is for a third re-do in a year, the answer is a full re-seal. Strip everything, prep everything, re-bead everything in one visit. The water test at the end is the proof the work is done.
Every joint, not just the visible-failure ones
Wet-zone joints fail on roughly the same calendar. Stripping only the visible failures leaves the unmolested joints 60 days from their own failure — and you end up paying for three separate visits over six months. The full re-seal does all of them at once.
Quaternary ammonium remediation, not bleach
Bleach fades the stain. Quaternary ammonium cleaners (the hospital-grade chemistry) kill the organism in the porous substrate on the full ten-minute label dwell. We dry with a heat gun on low until a moisture meter confirms the substrate reads dry, then lay the new bead. The mildew does not grow back through.
Substrate inspection — we will not cosmetic-cover a rotting wall
Before any new bead, we press the substrate at every joint. Soft drywall, swollen MDF, delaminated tile backer — any of these means the wall behind the joint is compromised and fresh caulk is a 90-day cover. We tell you on arrival, route the work to drywall or tile first, and re-seal after that work lands. The honest call now saves the much-bigger repair later.
Water test before we leave
Handheld showerhead at low flow, directed at every joint after the silicone has skinned 60 to 90 minutes. Any joint that does not bead water uniformly gets touched up on the spot. The skin is firm enough at 90 minutes to take this test without damage. Standing water exposure waits the full 48 hours.
30-day workmanship guarantee
If any bead pulls, cracks, separates from the substrate, or molds within 30 days because of our workmanship or prep, we come back and redo it at no extra charge. The full re-seal coverage is one continuous guarantee — every joint we did, not just the one that failed.
Estimate
Tub alcove or walk-in shower, approximate age of the existing caulking, any visible mildew or substrate damage you have noticed — we will quote it.
Customer Reviews
Full tub and shower re-seal reviews from real Handis customers.
We had called two other handymen who each redid one corner of our walk-in shower and we were back within three months. Handis tech walked in, looked at the whole shower, and told us straight — we needed a full re-seal, not another spot repair. Stripped every joint, killed visible mildew at three corners, ran fresh bead on everything in one afternoon. Eight months later, all clean.
12-year-old master bath alcove tub. Tech treated three different mildew spots, dried the substrate with a heat gun, ran new bead on the front, both sides, and the pan-to-wall seam. The water test at the end was the part I appreciated most — he literally ran water on every seam to prove they were holding before he left.
Steam shower with the ceiling cove that always grew mildew. Tech did the full re-seal including the ceiling and used a heavier bead at the cove because that area sees direct condensation drip. He also said we should run the exhaust fan five minutes after every shower — small thing but the mildew has not come back.
Glass shower surround, the seams between the glass panels and the tile pan had all gone black. Tech stripped everything, did mildew prep, and laid clear silicone (color-matched to the glass) on every panel-to-tile and panel-to-pan seam. The reset made the whole shower look new — and the water test caught one tiny pinhole he touched up before leaving.
Two bathrooms, both 15 years old, both full re-seals in one visit. Master walk-in plus hall bath alcove tub. Tech worked through them in order so the cure timing did not stack. Three hours total, two completed water tests at the end. Saved real money doing them together instead of separate appointments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about full tub and shower re-seal.