Shower – the proper preparation to re-apply silicone caulk

The answer: Swanstone

How I found it: I got lucky. I just grabbed it and started taking it to local big-box places (I assumed it was a big-box as the materials in this house aren't necessarily 'high end').

I stopped at Lowes and the initial guy in the kitchen section had no clue, but I was fortunate that a curious co-worker popped his head over the counter, thought for a minute, then declared it 'Bermuda Sand' from 'Swanstone'. We found the swatches and, sure enough, he was right-on. So kudos tot he very helpful Lowes employee.

Apparently, these type of shower systems are just large panels of solid surface material that is glued up on the wall. They idea is that the panels abut, then caulked. The corner cove is more of an 'extra' piece that can be used if desired. The underlayment SHOULD be your standard tile surface...water proof cement board that is then sealed with some sort of water sealant. However, I don't know that in this case, so this particular piece seems to be a rather critical for my shower. So, glad we were able to find it.

The challenge for future people reading this is that I guess the solid surface companies are many, and the patterns all tend to be unique to each company, so it is a bit of a needle-in-a-haystack hunt trying to find these.

For contractors, I'd like to suggest leaving a note on the inside of a bath or kitchen vanity with the manufacturer's info. That'd be handy. ;)

Experiment. Along one stretch of joint, apply a new layer of your preferred caulk directly over the existing caulk. If you like the result and the new layer holds up, complete the other walls. You are most likely to succeed with this approach if you first give the area a really good scrubbing to remove any soap scum.

If the new caulk does not stick, it could be that the old caulk was silicone caulk: nothing truly sticks to silicone (including silicone).

Regardless, if the result is not to your satisfaction, then scrape/peal/clean the joint really well before re-applying new caulk.

FWIW, the guy that did my old bath also used the wrong color caulk. As I get older, I'm learning not to trust contractors to handle any aesthetic decisions. :)

(If, on the other hand, you are asking about grout, then that's a whole other question and likely will involve a dremmel tool and a whole lot of dust.)

UPDATE:

Oh, one more tip while we're at it. If you are wanting to match the caulk to the grout, note that many grout suppliers also sell sanded caulk color-matched to the grout.