ᐅ Tiled shower floor – sooner or later problems caused by the silicone seal?

Hello everyone,

If I want to tile the floor of my shower area, won’t I sooner or later (likely after more than 10 years) encounter problems at the following spot:
the silicone joint between the outer floor tile and the first vertical wall tile next to it? This joint will surely be filled with silicone or acrylic, and sooner or later there will be a leak there. Then water will run—without me noticing much—under the tiles while showering.

Isn’t this a major drawback of tiled shower areas?

Thanks and best regards,
annab377

There is a sealed layer underneath for this... And: silicone joints are maintenance joints. It’s better not to wait 10 years to replace them but to act proactively and have them renewed after, let’s say, 5-6 years, or earlier if necessary.

... commas have never been my thing; I’ve been placing them by feel for 40 years...

annab377 schrieb:

Silicone joint between the outer floor tile and the first vertical wall tile.

What would be your suggested trouble-free alternative?

annab377 schrieb:

This will probably be sealed with silicone or acrylic anyway.

...or you could apply a properly executed silicone joint. “Just smearing it on” also works somehow.
You can also smear plaster and paint on the wall, run cables all over the place, install doors and windows crooked, etc... 😀

annab377 schrieb:

Then water runs unnoticed under the tiles when showering.

It’s a good idea to check from time to time; but that applies throughout the house anyway...
If the joint gets damaged at some point, you just replace the silicone joint. This is easy to do yourself and doesn’t take long.
If THAT remains the only problem in your build, consider yourself lucky.
If you use a shower tray, the joints will be where it meets the wall tiles anyway.

annab377 schrieb:

Isn’t that a major drawback for tiled shower areas?

That’s just as much of a drawback as having a full ashtray in your car... you wouldn’t buy a new one because of that!

(And even with shower trays, there is a silicone joint between the tray and the wall)

What actually happens to water that runs onto the waterproofing through a damaged joint? I mean, at some point, wouldn’t the waterproofing be completely saturated? 🤨

What do you think?
Either it evaporates... and if not, it behaves like any standing liquid does—combined with shower gel, sweat, and other substances that run down your body.
Honestly... are you really worried about this?
Every bathroom in Germany has this, and you don’t hear much about disastrous problems because of it.
Grout is applied properly, you check it regularly just like in the kitchen or elsewhere, and if it becomes brittle, you replace it.
Kitchen drains, toilet drains, gutters, etc., behave the same way as motor oil or coolant.
Check them and fix if necessary!