Sealing a bath. Advice needed

[dazzystar]

Hi all,

I've removed all the old silicon from our bath as it was mouldy. I thoroughly cleaned and dried the tiles and bath, filled the bath up with water. I have a very small gap leading to a much wider one (about 8mm) at the tap end.

Before I start to apply the silicon do I just fill the gap and smooth with my wet finger or does the silicon need to fill the gap and spread on to both the tile and bath?

Thanks
Dazz

 

[dazzystar]

Anyone?

 

[HERTS P&D]

You need the set below:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tytan-Pro...Plumbing_MJ&hash=item19ce374afd#ht_501wt_1270

Andy

 

[dazzystar]

Thanks for the reply Andy but it doesn't answer if I need to cover some of the tile and bath with the silicon.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

just level up the gap if you can by raising the feet at the tap end, make sure the pipes will accomodate the new tub height, make the gap equal, and check if your top of the tub is still level.

then you just fill the gap with silicon bead, depending how patient you are, yes i would fill the first bead well into the gap so that it makes a good seal, let it dry for a day, then next day I would apply an outer bead to look nice and smooth, if you like you could use your wet finger to craete a bead to suit your pwersonal taste, let it dry throughly then trim away any silicon that spread beyond the area you intended, as nothing is worst than a smeared layer of silicon along the edge of a tub.

PS. if you can remove your taps or mixer taps, as these tend to get in the way of making a good bead, as the taps can prevent you laying a bead at the same angle of application, i normally remove my taps when doing this, and gives you unhindered access to bead smoothly. remove it oif you can, so much better results.

 

[longdogs]

An easy way to silicon a bath:

Use masking tape along the bath and along the tiles to create a parallel space for the silicon. Force a thick bead of silicon in the gap and slightly onto the tape. wet your finger and run it along the tape pushing silicon into the space, don't push so hard that silicon gets too thin, but don't leave a ridge on the tape. Remove tape. Again wet finger and gently smooth it out so that edges of silicon blend into the bath and tiled wall. The secret is getting a nice even pressure.