Sealing 20mm gap between bath and tiles

[Derek M]

I'm replacing the mouldy old sealant and there was an L-shaped plastic strip fitted previously, with the vertical part behind the tiles, so I had to use my multi-tool to separate that part from the horizontal part to remove the latter, as there was a load of mouldy old sealant under that and no way to remove it without removing the strip.

Now I've got a 20mm gap between the bath and the tiles, as shown in the attached photo. Would you just use sealant to fill that gap? I was thinking that there might be some sort of strip that I could stick on the tiles which would hang down and reduce the gap but maybe it's not worth it. If there is something like that, would I need to seal the top edge where it sits on the tile to stop water getting in between the strip and the tile?

 

[blup]

Replace the strip, seal over

Blup

 

[Mr Chibs]

I'm not keen on those plastic strips, but 20mm is a large void to fill with sealant.

Is there any chance you can raise the bath up at least 10mm or so? I realise the bath panel might not allow this.

Get a set of sealant spatulas to make the finish look good, remove the bath taps if you can, makes a neater job.

I think another strip is probably the answer, if you can find one you like.

 

[Derek M]

Replace the strip, seal over

Blup

The old strip partially sits behind the tiles though, so wouldn't I have to remove the tiles to fit a new strip? I really don't want to do that.

 

[blup]

If the tiles are staying, then maybe bodge it with a packing strip and liberally apply sealant.

Blup

 

[Derek M]

Do you mean fill the gap as much as possible with a piece of plastic strip, to reduce the depth (it's about 8-10mm deep, so if I can reduce that to say 3mm it will save a load of sealant), and then apply sealant on top to fill the 20mm gap between the tiles and the bath? B&Q have a 2m PVC flat bar that's 25mm wide and 5mm thick, so I could trim the width down to fit in the gap.

Would it be worth sticking some waterproof sealant tape to the wall at the back of the gap first, just to line it? The wall is quite crumbly there, so should I paint it with some PVA glue first?

 

[333rocky333]

Uvpc quadrant may work, with a thin seal of silicone both upper and lower edge

 

[blup]

Do you mean fill the gap as much as possible with a piece of plastic strip, to reduce the depth (it's about 8-10mm deep, so if I can reduce that to say 3mm it will save a load of sealant), and then apply sealant on top to fill the 20mm gap between the tiles and the bath? B&Q have a 2m PVC flat bar that's 25mm wide and 5mm thick, so I could trim the width down to fit in the gap.

Would it be worth sticking some waterproof sealant tape to the wall at the back of the gap first, just to line it? The wall is quite crumbly there, so should I paint it with some PVA glue first?

Yes

 

[sparkwright]

Quadrant tiles.

(If they still make them.)

 

[Derek M]

In the end my Dad decided to fill in the gap level to the tiles with plaster filler, so we could use double-sided tape to stick some 20x20mm white plastic angle to the plaster to hold it in place whilst I sealed it top (along the tiles) and bottom (along the bath).

It hasn't worked particularly well, as the plastic angle doesn't sit absolutely level on both surfaces, so pressing on the vertical part makes the horizontal lift a bit and vice-versa. I think I've managed to adequately seal the top edge along the tiles (I used clear sealant there to make it look neater against the tiles and white sealant on the bath edge) and about half of the horizontal seems to be sealed to the bath, but the half nearest the taps has gaps where it's lifted.

I think the problem is sealant is meant to fill the gap between the bath and the tiles and the sealant profiler tools are designed to smooth the sealant down into the gap and remove any protruding excess. Whereas here I really need the sealant to go over the edge of the angle (rather than just in front of it) to bind it to the bath. I'm going to try making a concave tool by filing down the end of a lolly stick with a circular file, which will hopefully let me create a neat hump of sealant from the bath to over the edge of the angle.

 

[sparkwright]

Quadrant tiles.

 

[Derek M]

Quadrant tiles.

Do you mean these? https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Gloss-Ceramic-Bathtrims-Quadrant/dp/B008R9QRN0

If so, I don't see how they'd be any easier to use in this situation than the plastic angle. I imagine they'd be even more problematic, as they're completely rigid so if the two surfaces I'm fixing to aren't completely flat, they will rock and move away from one or the other surface. Which is the same problem I'm having with the angle but at least that's flexible, so (in theory at least) it should make it easier to seal one edge and then once that's set, seal the other edge by pushing the angle against that surface without pulling the other surface away.

Maybe I could put a layer of sealant along the bath and then press the quadrant tile on top of it before sealing the top edge along the tiles, which may work but I could do that with the angle and I don't want to do that because if the sealant underneath gets mouldy that will spread to the visible sealant and I'd have to remove the whole lot again to fix it.

 

[yartin]

Quadrant UPVC trims, they come with different widths. I had same issue, used them been there over 5 years, just make you apply silicon properly and will look great, easier to apply than quadrant tiles and cheaper.

 

[Derek M]

Oh, like this? https://www.directplastics.com/upvc-trims-and-angles/white-window-trims/quadrant-trim-white/GQU019W

Yeah, that's about 10x cheaper than the quadrant tiles. I guess it might be easier to apply the silicon with the quadrant shape, as the silicon will push up against the rounded surface, whereas with the angle trim the edge is very thin and the silicon tends to flow over it. I think it's secure now anyway, but if it needs redoing I'll get some quadrant trim.

 

[yartin]

Yes that's the one, get the width you need, cut to size, you will need mitre box (£4 form SF) to cut nice 45 degree for corners, measure twice cut once, put in place apply silicone where trim touches wall tile and bath, I used silicone profiling tool and plenty of tissues to get nice pro finish. I cleaned bath edge and tile with methylated spirit and fully dry before fitting trim. Leave it for as long as you can to dry.