Shower Regrout & Recaulk
The master shower with the hairline crack at the floor-to-wall corner that has bloomed mildew through it every other week for two winters. The guest bath tub-surround with the silicone bead at the spout that has pulled away from the tile in a quarter-inch gap. The half-bath shower with the grout color two shades darker than the day it was installed because the previous owners never sealed it and the field absorbed a decade of body oil and soap film. The big walk-in master with the niche where the sealer at the bottom shelf wore through five years ago and the cementitious grout is now half-pulverized under a thumbnail test. Shower regrout and recaulk is the Handis core restoration trade — failing cementitious grout removed mechanically down to clean tile edges, fresh sanded or unsanded grout (matched by width and product line) floated in, and 100 percent silicone replacing every change-of-plane joint where cementitious grout cracks within a year because the building moves. The work that takes a tired shower back to a finished look in one to two visits and pulls the mildew bloom out by the roots. From $700 for a single shower recaulk up to $1,800 for a master and guest combination. No licensed-plumber or licensed-electrician sub on any of it — Handis self-performs end to end.
Service
How Shower Regrout & Recaulk Works
Seven sequential steps from arrival inspection through full mechanical grout removal, color-matched refill, change-of-plane silicone replacement, and seal cure — the sequence Handis runs on every shower regrout and recaulk project.
Inspect the Shower and Tap-Test the Tile Field
Walk the wall and floor tile with a knuckle and a coin to tap-test for hollow tiles (failed thinset bond beyond the grout failure). Press-test the substrate at the curb, the floor-to-wall corners, and behind the valve trim for soft spots. Test the existing grout with a thumbnail in a few inconspicuous joints to confirm it is structurally pulverized and not just discolored. Mark every secondary issue for the quote scope.
Mask the Shower and Pull the Sealed Hardware
Pull the showerhead arm, the valve trim plate, the shower door frame screws or the curtain rod, and any niche-shelf brackets so the silicone removal and the grout removal can reach every joint cleanly. Mask the tub or pan surface with painter's tape and a drop cloth. Run a runner from the bathroom doorway to the work area to catch grout dust as the tool walks the joint.
Remove the Failing Grout Down to Clean Tile Edges
Run a Dremel oscillating tool with a carbide grout removal blade across every joint to remove the failing grout to the tile substrate. A Roberts grout saw and a manual carbide blade reach tight corners. The joint is vacuumed clean after every wall section. Take care to avoid chipping the tile glaze on the edge — the right blade depth (about 2/3 of the joint depth) leaves the bottom 1/3 of the joint as a positioning bead so the fresh grout has a registration surface.
Remove the Old Silicone or Caulk from Change-of-Plane Joints
Pull the old silicone bead with a silicone scraper, a razor blade at a 45-degree angle, or a Goof Off silicone solvent on stubborn beads. Every floor-to-wall corner, wall-to-wall corner, curb-to-floor joint, edge-of-niche perimeter, around the valve trim, and around the showerhead arm gets the same treatment. The substrate has to be silicone-free for the fresh silicone to bond — any residue from the old bead compromises the new bond.
Mix and Float the Fresh Grout into the Wall and Floor Joints
Mix sanded grout (Mapei Keracolor S, Custom Polyblend Sanded) for joints 1/8 inch and wider, or unsanded for narrow joints, to manufacturer spec — slack consistency, no slumping when held on the float. Float the grout into every joint at a 45-degree angle to pack the joint full. Strike with a damp sponge in two passes — the first to compress the joint and pull excess off the face, the second to clean the grout line. Haze off with a soft cloth after the grout sets up.
Mask and Run Fresh 100 Percent Silicone at Every Change-of-Plane Joint
Mask both sides of every change-of-plane joint with painter's tape (1/8 inch wider than the planned bead width on each side). Run a fresh 100 percent silicone bead (GE Silicone II Kitchen & Bath in the matched color, or DAP Kwik Seal Ultra, or Mapei Mapesil T) from the corner outward. Tool the bead with a wet finger or a silicone tooling spatula to push the silicone into the joint and smooth the surface. Pull the tape immediately while the silicone is still wet. Cure 24 hours before water exposure.
Seal the Grout (Seal-Included Scope) and Final Walkthrough
After the fresh grout cures 24 to 72 hours per product spec, wipe two coats of a penetrating sealer (Aqua Mix Sealer's Choice Gold, TileLab SurfaceGard) across every grout joint. Soak 5 to 10 minutes, buff the tile face clean. Second coat after the first cures 24 hours. Walk the shower with the homeowner — show every regrouted joint, every fresh silicone bead, and the sealer coverage. Remind them no water for 24 hours after the final sealer coat.
Shower Regrout & Recaulk Pricing
Final pricing depends on shower size, wall and floor tile area, joint count, existing grout and silicone condition, and whether the project includes seal application. Color-matched grout sourcing surcharges (for discontinued grout product lines that require special-order) are passed through transparently with the line item named. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Send us a phone photo of the cracked grout joint or the failing silicone bead — we will quote the regrout and recaulk by scope.
Why Handis for Shower Regrout & Recaulk
The most common shower we are asked to fix had a previous handyman regrout it with caulk instead of grout, or worse, smear a coat of latex caulk over a failing cementitious joint and hope the homeowner did not notice for ninety days. Latex caulk bonded to a wet contaminated substrate peels in weeks. Cementitious grout in a change-of-plane joint cracks in a year. Silicone applied over old silicone never bonds. There is one right way to regrout and recaulk a shower — mechanical removal down to clean tile, fresh grout matched to width and color in the flat joints, 100 percent silicone in every change-of-plane joint, sealer on the cured grout. Handis runs that exact sequence every time.
Estimate
Tell us the shower (master, guest, hall, half-bath), the rough dimensions, the original tile and grout color if you know it, the age of the install, and which joints are failing (field grout, change-of-plane silicone, both). Phone photos of the worst joint help us scope accurately. We send a clear estimate with regrout, recaulk, and seal line by line.
Customer Reviews
Recent shower regrout and recaulk reviews from verified Handis customers.
Master shower regrout and recaulk after a previous handyman had smeared latex caulk over the failing grout at the floor-to-wall corners. Handis pulled all the old caulk and old grout, refilled the field joints with sanded grout matched to the original color, and ran fresh GE Silicone II at every change-of-plane joint. The silicone bead is the tightest, straightest bead I have ever seen on a shower. Two years and counting, no mildew bloom anywhere.
Guest bath tub-surround recaulk. The silicone bead at the spout had pulled away in a quarter-inch gap and the floor-to-wall corner was bloomed with mildew. Tech masked everything with painter's tape, ran fresh silicone at every joint, pulled the tape clean. The bead is straight, the mildew is gone, water is not getting behind the spout flange anymore. Two-hour visit, perfect outcome.
Whole-shower regrout, recaulk, and seal in our master. The grout had darkened over fifteen years and was pulverizing under a thumbnail in a few joints. Handis spent an afternoon removing the old grout with a Dremel and a grout saw, refilled the next morning, ran silicone after the grout cured, came back two days later to apply the sealer. The shower reads brand new and water beads off the grout now.
Master and guest shower combination project. They split it across two visits to let the master cure before they did the guest. Both showers had the same failure pattern (failed silicone at the floor-to-wall corners, mildew bloom at the curb) and both came back to a finished look. The color match on both grout pours is invisible against the aged field.
Tub-shower combo regrout and recaulk in our guest bath. The grout at the spout was failing and the silicone bead at the tub-to-tile joint had pulled away in a long line. Handis took the spout off, pulled the trim, did the full regrout and recaulk, set the spout back on a new escutcheon. The bath came back to service the next day and looks crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis shower regrout and recaulk — scope, pricing, color matching, silicone choice, and when a regrout is the right call versus a full re-tile.