Should the shower be caulked?

[Neo1130]

I noticed something when taking my 1st shower in my 2016 174BH...

There was no caulk around the shower tub... The wall goes down, there is some trim and then the tub. What keeps the water from going down into the cracks and rotting away the wood? Did they forget to caulk or is it just a bad design? Should I caulk the trim where the wall panels meet the shower tub?

[Iraqvet05]

From what I understand there should be no caulk at the bottom. The tub has a lip to keep the water from going behind the walls and the gap at the bottom is intentional to allow ventilation so any trapped water can dry out.

[rcmike]

I have a 222, and I did notice on mine what you are talking about. its just the thin plastic covers on the 3 walls and goes down to the tub... I just took clear sealant and filled in where the panels meet down at the bottom.

[rcmike]

Originally Posted by Iraqvet05

From what I understand there should be no caulk at the bottom. The tub has a lip to keep the water from going behind the walls and the gap at the bottom is intentional to allow ventilation so any trapped water can dry out.

makes sense to a point,,, Ill have to see what happens after I did what I did.. Thanks

[havnfun]

Iraqvet05 is right on the point......the tub has a lip that goes up the wall a little ways. It should not be caulked as it leaves the air circulation behind the wall and some flexibility.
Don't worry, after 26 years of no caulking, I have not had any water problems.
Happy RVing,
Jeff

[justman]

No caulk at the bottom. However, I have put a dab of caulk over those button things that hold the shower walls to the walls of the camper. On my last trailer, those proved to be a leak source. Couldn't figure it out at first. I caulked all around the base, the faucet fixture, etc, and still had water coming from under the bottom of the tub. On a hunch, I caulked the button thingys and problem solved. Seems that they pulled out from the wall and weren't sealing anymore. To prevent a similar occurrence, I sealed the same button things in my current trailer.

By the way, the previous owner of my trailer apparently believed in caulking the bottom. I had to pull the caulk out of the base of the shower to restore airflow.

[Neo1130]

I thought there would be a lip but I sure didn't notice any signs of one... I can see the tub slightly behind one of the panels... Must start back farther than I can see...

Just wanted to make sure... My Travel Lite Idea had a caulked tub but the new Jayco didn't...

Thanks guys!

[dewey02]

My shower surround doesn't go all the way to the ceiling.
So I did run a bead of caulk around the TOP of the shower surround to prevent any splashes from running down behind the surround.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Iraqvet05

From what I understand there should be no caulk at the bottom. The tub has a lip to keep the water from going behind the walls and the gap at the bottom is intentional to allow ventilation so any trapped water can dry out.

Originally Posted by havnfun

Iraqvet05 is right on the point......the tub has a lip that goes up the wall a little ways. It should not be caulked as it leaves the air circulation behind the wall and some flexibility.
Don't worry, after 26 years of no caulking, I have not had any water problems.
Happy RVing,
Jeff

These are right.

I had the dealer caulk mine, then some of the caulk started coming loose and some water was coming out from behind the shower surround. Turns out a little water got back there and there were some wood shavings from construction that were bleeding a little of their dye; that's how I found out there was a little bit of water back there. I removed the caulk, and now have no problems.

Top and bottom of the shower surround should be left open so there's an air gap to let any little droplets that get back there dry up. The shower pan has a lip that goes up about 1-1.5" behind the surround.