Sealing the gap behind an office worktop

[NorthernLights811]

I am a decorator....

You can use silicone but when it comes to repainting the wall, you won't be able to paint over the silicone.

For a 2mm gap, I would recommend an acrylic sealant that matches the colour of the wood.

Eg https://www.solmer.co.uk/hardware/unika-colorsealant-310ml.html

Use low tack tape on the wall and run the sealant, smooth off with a damp J-cloth. It will shrink back slightly. If you are unhappy with the shrinkage, repeat the process.

What's the diff between a low tack tape and painter's tape (masking tape)?

 

[NorthernLights811]

OTT for a desk

What's OTT?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Over The Top

 

[^woody^]

Brickie's eyesight?

Surveyor's foresight.

 

[opps]

Unless you use paintable silicone?

AFAIK, no such product exists. MS polymers can however be painted over, unfortunately they need to coated with waterbased finishes before an oil based finish can be applied.

I was going to recommend one but didn't because the finish on the wood looked like oil.

At a push, the OP could use caulk, the paint line would however have to come down to the edge of the timber.

It is, in my experience, easier to cut in paint on the horizontal rather than following a vertical line from above.

 

[opps]

What's the diff between a low tack tape and painter's tape (masking tape)?

Traditional masking tape may adhere to the emulsion so much so that it will pull the emulsion off the plaster. That should not happen, but it does.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

GE Sealants | Paintable Silicone Supreme Kitchen & Bath Sealant

Seal with a reliable seal in areas that may be exposed to moisture and require painting with GE Sealants Paintable Supreme Kitchen & Bath Sealant.

gesealants.com

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Surveyor's foresight.

I almost replied to that - but I thought better of it

 

[^woody^]

Keep it professional IYDM

 

[opps]

GE Sealants | Paintable Silicone Supreme Kitchen & Bath Sealant

Seal with a reliable seal in areas that may be exposed to moisture and require painting with GE Sealants Paintable Supreme Kitchen & Bath Sealant.

gesealants.com

That is a American MS polymer that calls itself a silicone. It is not a silicone. It is a modified silphane product, In the product description, they mention that it can be applied to damp surfaces. It is not available in the UK

Coincidentally @DAZB recommended the same (not available in the UK) product a couple of days ago, He insisted that it is a paintable silicone.

I tried to explain that it is not a silicone based. I went to great lengths to try to explain the differences between silicon based sealants and MS polymers

Caulk or silicone for soffits and facias?

Can anyone reccimend a good exterior caulk that will take oil based gloss paint? Or should I do my painting first and then use silicone? Thanks!

www.diynot.com

How is it that two different people have (incorrectly) recommended (a mismarketed) product not sold in the UK over the last week?




.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

How is it that two different people have (incorrectly) recommended (a mismarketed) product not sold in the UK over the last week?

Well in my case we were allocated a case of what the supplier referred to as "paintable silicone/sealant" a couple of years back to field test, and which did what he said it would, i.e. sealed like silicone and was over paintable. I can't for the life of me remember the product name (I wasn't using it directly, but it was being used around balconies that I had formed), only that it was US in origin and that the tubes were a different size to the norm. And my suggestion was tongue in cheek because I cannot find a product like this listed in the UK (but then you can't find quite a few if the things we use on the Internet in any case...). Had I found it, I'd have posted a link

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Does it really need to be silicone anyway? There are plenty of sealants that will stop a few drops of coffee going down the gap that can be painted over.

 

[^woody^]

"Over-paintable mastic [sealant]" is the phrase. Typically, it will be a polymer or an acrylic product.

I've not known of an actual silicone mastic that is paintable, -despite what products are called, as silicone just won't allow paint and lots of other stuff to stick to it.

 

[DAZB]

If you care to read my reply again @opps you will see i didn't "insist" anything, i stated that it says it is paintable silicone and others in the thread confirmed they have themselves painted onto silicone. In my experience you get mixed and varied results depending on the paint but a painted finish can be produced. I dare say the link i gave is available to the UK via Amazon or eBay etc....we have the world at our fingertips.

 

[opps]

If you care to read my reply again @opps you will see i didn't "insist" anything, i stated that it says it is paintable silicone and others in the thread confirmed they have themselves painted onto silicone. In my experience you get mixed and varied results depending on the paint but a painted finish can be produced. I dare say the link i gave is available to the UK via Amazon or eBay etc....we have the world at our fingertips.

My bad, I misspoke when I said "insist", and I was unaware that you had seen it on Amazon.

Yes, it does say that it is a paintable silicone but it isn't silicone. The data sheet says that it can be applied to damp surfaces. Silicone is hydrophobic, water will not stick to it and it will not stick to water.

Regarding painting over silicone, as I said in the other thread, it is possible, to apply oil based paint over silicone but the paint is simply skinning over the silicone. It will not "stick" to silicone. If you run your fingernail over it, it will crack. That does not happen with acrylic and MS polymers.

Paintable silicones do not exist. An MS polymer is not silicone even if the sloppy marketing calls it silicone.