bathroombathtubfaucetseal
We've got a 1/2 inch gap between our bathtub faucet and the tile, and as you can imagine water has been leaking through and sometimes even dripping though the wall to the floor below. The tile is starting to wear out and chip off as well, so I'm not sure if caulking will hold or even work for such a large gap. We are saving up for a bathroom reno but need some sort of solution to hold us over for the next few months at least.
You don't have a caulking problem, you have a structural one. The walls and floor shouldn't be moving so much that caulk cracks. And caulk isn't an adhesive for holding up the soap dish or towel bar. Finally, a rocking toilet indicates the floor either wasn't properly leveled or that it's not structurally sound. If these are the issues you are noticing, then you can be sure that there are a lot more serious problems you aren't seeing.
You don't want that contractor back in your house to fix these problems. You want to sue them for gross negligence and to get someone that knows what they are doing to come in and fix it. To fix it right likely requires gutting your bathroom all over again and starting over from scratch.
Brass Hose Cap (~$1.50 @ Home Depot and Lowes).
You may also be able to find some with tethers (for those of us that constantly lose things like this) .
Best Answer
That is too large of a gap to seal with caulk. If you are looking for a (very) temporary solution you would be better off with plumber's putty. Get a tub of putty (it is not expensive) and knead it well until it is warm and soft, then pack the void with it. It should do a fair job of keeping the water out for awhile, until a proper repair can be completed.
Proper repair would be removing the tub spout and properly sizing the pipe so the spout was close to the tile, then caulk.