My shower insert, three panels, has two small, 1 inch, hair width, cracks at the base. They are growing mold?!

I am going to re caulk, but what can I do about these cracks?

Does it make any sense to try to scrape/clean them out with bleach and a small sharp pointed thingy ?? and patch it or caulk it?

These are just generic shower panels probably from one of the large home improvement stores.

The best fix of course would be to get new panels - but that may be more than you want to do.

They can be fixed. Not a perfect fix but should stop the mold and last for a decent amount of time. Try this:

1. Drill a very, very small hole at the end of each crack. It is important to follow the crack and place the hole directly at the end. This will stop the crack from spreading.
2. Trace each crack with the point of a sharp knife. You just want to give it a little depth in a 'v' pattern. Since you have mold there wipe on a little bleach to kill it.
3. Get a gel coat repair kit - home store, even auto parts stores carry them. You'll need to practice mixing to get a good color match. Once you add the catalyst, use a toothpick to lightly fill each crack.
4. Once cured, sand with progressively finer grades of wet sandpaper. Start with 220 to 320 grit and work your way to 600.
5. Buff with compound and wax.

This will give you an almost hidden repair.

If that's too much or if you are not very concerned about looks then clean out the area with bleach, lightly sand and add a Bondo type fiberglass patch to cover the entire area of the cracks.

Wow amazing answer!

I will probably go with the "easier" solution, they are tiny and probably few would notice it but me. My husbands response was, "what cracks, what mold."

Thanks a lot!!!!

this is how they fix cracks in bridge support steel, too... drill at the ends of the crack to stop it growing. cracks occur because stress on the material finds the weak spots. if you grow more after that, it's time for more serious testing... is there too much stress, or are there too many weak spots?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: swschrad,