How do I inspect for water damage around a bathtub?

[chrisbell86]

The other day my daughter casually mentioned to me that there’s no caulking in the bathtub/shower in the guest bathroom. I looked at the bathtub, and sure enough, there’s no caulking what-so-ever. Most of the grout appears to have a good seal with the bathtub, except in the corner next to the faucet. There is mildew in that corner, however, when I push on the wall it is solid, and there are no loose tiles in this area. The grout itself appears loose, but not the tiles. I know how to clean the mildew and apply bathroom caulk to seal the tub, but I don’t know what I should look at to ensure there’s no water damage in the wall itself. So my question is, except for pushing on the wall, and looking at the condition of the grout, what do I need to do to further verifies there is no water damage behind the tile? I really don’t want to remove the tile if I can help it. Also, is it necessary to regrout this are before I caulk? I’m not clear if it’s necessary to re-grout small areas like this, if caulking is applied. Thanks for any help you can offer.

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[doitright]

Hi Chris, Welcome! :)

As long as the areas to be caulked are in a corner (or change of plane), it's actually better that there is no grout underneath the caulk.

Do you know if your tile was installed over drywall or a cement backer board?

[chrisbell86]

Hi, thanks for helping me out. I don't know what is under the tile, or how it was installed, I purchased the house five years ago, and the house itself was built in 1994. (Not sure if the date it was built would mean anything as far as requirements and standards for bathroom construction.)

[doitright]

Hi Chris :)

Hopefully it's just a case of loose caulk, and moisture, causing some mildew. You should be okay. Keep an eye on the new caulk.