Kate at the joint where the walls join the floor in the shower, for the same reason as the corner joints in a steam shower, they really don't need to be caulked. There's a membrane that keeps the shower floor from moving with (or against) the structure, so there should be no reason for that joint to crack (unless this is s solid shower base). If the corner joints in the walls aren't caulked (and this is a conventional shower), then yes, use a utility knife, carve the grout out, and then use a siliconized latex caulking from the same manufacturer as the grout in the same COLOR as your grout, to caulk them.

Sometimes these yesterday to today complaints about appliances seem a bit like apples to oranges comparisons to me. I just retired a 25 year old Admiral washer and dryer, I only used them for a few months but if they were like anything else in the unit they had never seen a lick of maintenance. I have a very basic compact set from Samsung now and they do a lot of things the old set didn't while using less water, power and detergent to provide me with much cleaner clothes. They are stackable (goodbye support frame), with stainless drums and I don't have to wheel the washer forward to open it and hold the lid to load it(imagine how great that unsecured washer sounded to my downstairs neighbour when spinning - I don't have to because someone upstairs above me still has one) nor does the dryer door open into the doorway anymore. Will they last 25 years? Not a chance but if I get 5-7 with relatively few problems I will be very happy. Better 5-7 with all those features than 25 without them - if I am trading those fairly simple features for longevity then I'm Ok with that - would I prefer to have my cake and eat it to - sure who wouldn't. Kenmore doesn't manufacture anything - Sears pays other companies to make Kenmore products. Often these are just re-badged versions of the manufacturers own product or sometimes they re-configured with features added or subtracted from the manufacturers version.With washer and dryers I think LG might be doing a lot of the Kenmore front loaders but I'm not sure. This may not be true in your market but in Canada Sears charges more for other brands than their competitors for regular price and doesn't have as good regular markdowns. You can probably get a Samsung pair cheaper somewhere else. Sears tends to offer deeper markdowns on Kenmore products generally anyway. Kenmore is as good as the similar manufacturers model - which often is quite good so no reason not to consider them.

Technically, you are not supposed to grout over existing grout. I did a lot of research on this at one time....(you can probably learn a lot about it if you visit some tiling sites/forums). However, they say that if the grout is new enough, you can possibly have some success with grouting over top. But, I believe from what I've read, this is if it is not sealed. I think, from what I understand, the sealer may prevent the new grout from bonding to the old. You are supposed to remove at least 3/4 of it first. It's a pain, I know. I had to re-grout someone elses mistake on a backslash last year and it was not a fun time!

Hey folks, just writing to give an update. I'm still searching for a home, the whole process has me feeling down. It's so hard to find a home that's just affordable for me, in a good location that I want to live at in this town. I don't really want to spend more than the upper price range I set for myself. I know what I want in a house, but the choices are so limited. Finally after 1 month of waiting with no new houses being listed that I want to see during that time, I just saw a home listed 2 days ago. It looks like really nice house base on pictures, I still have to see it in person. but i think this is the one and i'm gonna pull the trigger after I see it. and the location is just perfect. In fact, it's a better home and a comparable location to the house on my very first post. Price is about the same too. Showing starts this weekend starting Saturday, but I'm working friday and all weekend, 12 hour shifts, so there's no way I can go see the house coz i get home at from work 8 pm. But my agent has already already contacted the seller's agent and made an appointment to see it on monday. I'm so anxious and nervous having to wait until monday to see it. I just have a gut feeling an offer will be made before I get the chance. houses this nice base on what i saw on zillow from Listed for sale date and listing remove, on average the difference is 1 week. I'm not sure how accurate that is from zillow, but i believe it. There was a house that was listed 2 months ago, and offers were made in just 2 days. It was a nice house, interior and backyard were in great condition, and the price was in the sweet spot for buyers in the area. It was a smaller house, but with a big backyard and pool. It was priced at $50,000 less than the upper limit of the price range that I'm looking at. I'm not surprised it sold fast.