Changed my mind about silicone caulk after my bathroom ceiling dripped on my head

I've always used acrylic caulk for everything because it's cheaper and cleans up with water. Last month I was patching gaps around a shower trim and figured acrylic would be fine. Three weeks later I'm sitting on the toilet and a drop of water hits me right on the forehead. Looked up and the caulk had shrunk and pulled away from the tile. Spent a Saturday afternoon scraping it all out and redoing it with 100% silicone. No drips since. Is the cleanup hassle worth the extra durability or am I just paying for the name?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_stella13d ago

Every time I think I can cheap out on caulk it comes back to bite me. I used acrylic around a window once and it cracked within a month. Silicone is a pain to tool and you have to keep a cup of soapy water handy, but it actually stays put. For bathrooms especially I think it's worth the extra fuss.

emery19913d ago

Ugh, that ceiling drip sounds awful. Acrylic always fails me too.

bennett.nora13d ago

I actually read somewhere that the problem with acrylic isn't just the cracking, it's that it doesn't bond as well when there's moisture behind it. And in a bathroom or ceiling situation there's always some moisture. So even if you apply it perfectly it's gonna fail eventually. Silicone is more of a pain to work with I'll give you that, but at least it flexes with the house settling. I watched this contractor on YouTube say he sprays his silicone with a little windex before tooling it and that trick actually works pretty good. Still messy though, no way around that.