It is curbless. No linear drane. It's a long shower and the shower head does not point towards the opening. It does meet code and the drain, though not linear is not centered on the shower its offset (due to plumbing constraints) and is closer to the back wall. I wanted to bring the tile out because I am paranoid about dripping showertakers so this gives you enough room to get out and finish drying. It was also an aesthetic decision just because I like the way it looks. Kind of like a rug. I was thinking silicone caulk as well. Thanks for your help!

I have several questions. First, are the nails galvanized or stainless steel? If they are galvanized, I would prime them first with Ospho before caulking and then prime with a regular primer. Ospho is a green liquid that will turn rust black and prevent bleed through on your paint. Galvanized nails rust fairly quickly and this will head off a problem in a year or so down the road. You can also use Hammerite Rust Cap Primer for the nails. (Many painters tell me that QTips work great for applying Ospho). If they are stainless, I would caulk first and then prime the surface. This will prevent any flashing effect from the Ospho on the finish coat. I would actually prefer to use a spackling compound that will stay somewhat flexible, but you can use caulk also. Is the siding a hardi-panel or hardi-plank? I have not seen any real wood siding pre-primed in my market. If it is hardi-plank, I would prime the siding with a good latex 100% acrylic primer. You could use 123 by Zinsser, Suprime by Pratt and Lambert, or FreshStart by Ben Moore and then topcoat with your choice of paint. Every paint company will manufacture a 100% acrylic primer to use with their topcoat. The primer used on siding as well as steel doors is to protect the product in shipment. It is still intended to be primed before painting. I would highly recommend that your primer be manufactured by the same company as the paint for warranty reasons. Make sure you use a really high quality caulk. I have found that Big Stretch Caulk by Sashco is the easiest to work with of all the caulks on the market. It is paintable. It is a little expensive, but is very flexible and smooths out great. Consider having your primer tinted 1/4 to 1/2 formula of your topcoat color. It makes the paint cover better. The primer will still be a little light to the finish coat so you can see any areas you have missed when applying your topcoat. I do recommend two coats of finish paint.

Well... I'm a minority of one here... 37 years ago I started on our old house & I'm still going. I've done pretty much everything myself (yes, up to code) so I know what I've done in the past and how it's held up. Wood filler absolutely does not last under outside paint. Period. (The book "Wood" might be a good starting point to explain why.) Basically, wood moves. Filler does not. Starting to see the problem here? I did it and after 10 years or so it started falling out.. oops. Yes, caulk works. But you have to keep applying thin layers forever to get around the shrinkage problem. DAP used to have an elastomeric filler... it was basically thick caulk, so the shrinkage problem was still there, but not as hard to build up. Wood glued in place is probably ideal, but it can be hard or impossible to get a piece that fits the damaged portion tightly. Use an aliphatic resin glue (yellow wood glue) - it gives a little so it can handle the wood shrinking and expanding. You can try a thin layer of caulk for better adhesion, followed by filler immediately, while the caulk is wet. The layer of embedded caulk gives enough it may keep the filler from coming loose. Whatever you do, you need to apply a layer of wood hardener first if the wood is weathered- ie. gray. At that point the lignin- the glue that holds the wood fibers together- is gone, so whatever you put in the hole will come loose, still attached to those weak wood fibers. Lacquer-based hardeners (Minwax) work ok; if you want it to be as strong as the original wood, use epoxy that's made for the purpose (Abatron). It's thin so it soaks into the wood nicely and leaves it stronger than the original. Then fill. Good luck! And the guy who said wood filler would come loose... he was dead on.

Try one coat of Intenseal and one or two coats of NordicSeal over the new to see if, it is a better match, before messing around with Transtint. Dyes are very potent.