Build Bath & Shower

Q. We clipped your column titled " Silicone caulk doesn 't stand up to polyurethane," knowing that we would need the product you recommended Sikaflex-1a which we couldn't find at Home Depot or any local supply houses . And since our clipping is missing the bottom of the column, we can't make out the other product you recommended. We intend to use it in our shower to caulk where the wall tile meets the shower base. A. The best answer to your question is a reprint of my advice regarding my experience with bathroom caulks: Over the years, I have been asked many times what is the best caulk to use to seal the joint of a bathtub and the wall above it. For years, I had been recommending Sikaflex- 1a polyurethane caulking , which I have been using in construction and home maintenance since the 1950s. A couple of years ago, I experimented with a different caulking, because several readers wrote to tell me that Sikaflex-1a was turning pink or yellow. I tried DAP Kwik ...

Older homes often lack bathroom exhaust fans . In the old days, if the bathroom was smelly or steamy, you were supposed to open a window to air it out. This isn’t a very logical ventilation method , especially when temperatures are below zero, or when the weather is 90°F and humid. Yet this time-honored method of bathroom ventilation is still enshrined in our building codes. According to the 2009 International Residential Code (sections R303.3 and M1507.3), a bathroom with an operable window does not need to have a bath exhaust fan . Why do we need exhaust fans? In spite of the code’s archaic loophole, builders should install an exhaust fan in every bathroom or toilet room — even when the bathroom has a window. A bath exhaust fan can perform several functions: It can exhaust smelly air , allowing fresher air to enter the bathroom. It can exhaust humid air , allowing dryer air to enter the bathroom. When operated for 24 hours per day or when controlled by a timer, it can act (in so...