Can you put silicone over grout?

[seannami]

Hi everyone

Just a quick question- I have had a plumber in and my shower is apparently leaking through the grout on the corners where there should be silicon. Considering that I will have to rip the bathroom out within the next couple of years, I'm not sure if its worth the effort of de-grouting the corners and around the pan, bathtub etc. Can I just silicon over the edges and patch the main grout where its needed, or am I in for a hard day of degrouting? It just needs to be a bandaid for a while.

Thanks!

[MitchellMc]

@seannami,

It's kind of like applying a bandage over a wound that needs stitches. You can go over the crack with silicone, and it could solve the issues, but it's not guaranteed to work. If the current leak isn't doing any structural damage, you could get a couple of years out of a silicone repair. It just depends on how bad this leak is and where the water is going. 

Mitchell

[seannami]

Thanks Mitchell

Its mainly hitting the waterproofing, but it shows on a damp meter in the next room- plumber seems to think patching the main grout and silicon on the edges would fix it. I might try scraping some of the grout out and see how I go.