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How to Reseal a Shower

Home/Resources/Bathroom/Resealing a Shower
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Written & researched by Priya Anand DIY & Tools Editor
Updated August 2026
Golden-hour view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom

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Resealing a shower is a beginner-friendly job of about an hour of work plus a day of cure time, and it is the single best defense against water getting behind your tile. A tube of quality mildew-resistant silicone costs $8 to $12. You need a caulk gun, a removal tool and patience. No permit or pro is required for resealing surface joints. The work is 80% preparation: new silicone only bonds to clean, bare, bone-dry surfaces, so stripping the old bead completely is what makes the reseal last rather than peel in weeks.

How to Caulk a Shower the Right Way to Prevent Mold & Leaks — GE Sealants

Step-by-step: stripping and resealing

  1. Remove all the old sealant. Run a utility knife or plastic silicone-removal tool along both edges of the old bead and peel it out. Get every bit; new silicone will not bond over old.
  2. Clear the residue. Scrape off the thin remaining film with a plastic razor, and treat stubborn silicone smears with a silicone digester gel. Kill any surface mold with a bathroom cleaner or diluted bleach.
  3. Clean and dry completely. Wipe the joint with rubbing alcohol to remove soap film and oils, then let it dry fully, several hours or overnight, because a damp joint ruins adhesion.
  4. Mask the joint. Run painter's tape on both sides of the joint, leaving a consistent gap the width of the bead you want, for crisp edges.
  5. Cut the tip and load the gun. Snip the nozzle at 45 degrees to a small opening, about 1/8 to 3/16 inch, and load a tube of 100% mildew-resistant silicone.
  6. Lay a continuous bead. Draw the gun steadily along the joint with even pressure, filling it in one smooth pass rather than starting and stopping. Work the vertical corners and the horizontal tub-to-tile line.
  7. Tool it smooth. Draw a caulk-finishing tool or a soapy gloved fingertip along the bead once, in a single stroke, to press it into the joint and leave a concave profile. Wipe excess onto a rag.
  8. Pull the tape and cure. Remove the tape while the silicone is wet, pulling at a low angle. Ventilate the room and let it cure a full 24 hours (up to 48 in humidity) before using the shower.
Three-quarter view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom, in soft overcast light

Tools and materials

You need a caulk gun, a tube of 100% mildew-resistant silicone, a utility knife or plastic silicone-removal tool, a plastic razor, a silicone digester, rubbing alcohol, painter's tape, and a caulk-finishing tool. Resealing is often paired with the other wet-area maintenance in this hub; the same technique reseals the toilet base in our toilet caulking guide, and since chronic mold points to poor airflow, fixing the ventilation with a unit from the exhaust fan roundup is what keeps the new seal clean. A shower filter also cuts the hard-water scale that stains fresh silicone.

Low-angle view of a person's hands fitting a new shower head in a tiled bathroom, in warm evening lamplight

Mistakes that make a reseal fail

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More from this hub: Bathroom · Caulking around a toilet · Regrouting tile · Replacing a cracked tile · Best shower filters · How we rank

Straight Answers

Frequently Asked

How often should you reseal a shower?

Silicone in a shower typically lasts three to five years before it starts to discolor, peel, or grow mold that will not scrub off, at which point it is time to reseal. You may get there sooner in a heavily used or poorly ventilated bathroom, and longer with good airflow and regular cleaning. Do not wait for water to actually get behind the tile; reseal at the first signs of the bead lifting at the edges, black mold staining that returns after cleaning, or a gap you can slip a fingernail into. Resealing early is cheap insurance against a wall-rot repair.

Should you use silicone or acrylic caulk in a shower?

Use 100% silicone in a shower. It is fully waterproof, stays flexible so it moves with the tub and walls without cracking, and comes in mildew-resistant formulas made for wet areas. Acrylic or siliconized-acrylic caulk is easier to tool and is paintable, but it is not as waterproof or as durable in constant wet, and it tends to shrink, crack and mildew faster. The one advantage of acrylic, paintability, rarely matters at a shower joint. For the corners and the tub-to-tile line specifically, a neutral-cure 100% silicone labeled for kitchen and bath is the right pick.

Can you put new silicone over old silicone?

No. New silicone will not bond to old silicone, soap scum or a damp surface, so you must remove all the old sealant down to clean, bare, dry substrate first. A skim of new silicone over old will peel within weeks and trap moisture behind it. Cut the old bead out with a knife or a silicone-removal tool, scrape off the residue, treat any leftover film with a silicone digester, then clean with rubbing alcohol and let it dry fully. Only then does fresh silicone adhere properly and last. This prep is 80% of a lasting reseal.

How long does shower silicone take to cure before you can use the shower?

Give 100% silicone a full 24 hours to cure before running water on it, and check the tube, as some need up to 48 hours in humid or cold conditions. The surface skins over in about 20 to 30 minutes, but that is not cured; using the shower before the silicone has cured through washes out the still-soft bead and ruins the seal. Ventilate the bathroom during the cure to help it set and to clear the vinegar-like smell of neutral-cure silicone. Building the wait into your schedule is the difference between a seal that lasts years and one that fails fast.

Why does the mold keep coming back on my shower caulk?

Because the mold is either growing in a bead that has failed and is holding moisture behind it, or the bathroom is so humid that spores keep colonizing the surface. Once mold has rooted into silicone it is nearly impossible to fully clean out, so the fix is to cut out the moldy bead and replace it with a fresh mildew-resistant silicone. Then attack the cause: run the exhaust fan during and 20 minutes after every shower, squeegee the walls, and keep the room dry. New caulk in a chronically wet, unventilated bathroom will just mold again.