Siliconing a bath, tips and a guide?

[Need Help21]

People.

I would greatly appreciate a link to a thread or guid on siliconing a bath.

The bath is quite a large bath tub and sits in a corner. It fits up to ceramic wall tiles. I do not have the option to pull the bath from the wall (to squirt silicon down the back) so the silicon will have to be applied from the top using a gun.

I have gone for Unibond bathroom sealant and am looking in the main for tips on good finishing etc.

Cheers




Need Help21

 

[landyandy]

I would fit a couple of battens for the bath to sit firmly on.

Have a look here..



http://www.absealants.co.uk/product_58-4-60_FUGI-KIT-1.htm

Andy

 

[Need Help21]

Andy, many thanks have you ever used the Fugi applicator?

 

[gigz]

Squirt the silicone in, spray with diluted washing up liquid (in a squirty bottle) , then use a credit card to finish. Easy peasy

 

[ianniann]

Might be a handy tool for finishing sealant (or might not, I haven't tried it) but that still misses many of the important parts of sealing your bath.

You don't want sealant down the back of the bath anyway, you want it sealed at the top where it touches the tiles, and you want a smooth bevel up from the bath top onto the wall so that water doesn't sit on it. A better sealant than the Unibond would be nice, but you might as well use it now that you've got it. If you have a heavily used bathroom you can always do it again when it goes black

So, the joint between the bath and the wall needs to be about 5mm. A little more or less is OK, but huge gaps will crack open and tiny gaps will split. Clean everything thoroughly and dry. Cut the right sized bevel on the sealant tube. This may be where most people go wrong. The right size bevel nicely fills the gap with enough bead to tool down cleanly without smearing all over but covering enough of both surfaces to adhere. Cut the nozzle on a 45 degree angle so you can hold the tube at that angle and apply the bead cleanly.

Fill the bath with water. Half full anyway. The idea is to make sure that the the gap is as wide as it is likely to be in use, as most baths shift or flex slightly. The sealant will be able to compress a little, but if it is stretched every time you take a bath then it will pull away from the bath or split. You might want to take off your shoes and socks!

Application is the simple bit, although a little practice helps with confidence. Applying in a smooth easy single stroke is best because adding more or touching up afterwards is messy. So apply a bead right along the joint. I apply moving towards my body, but I've seen people apply "pushing" the tube away from them. Looks weird to me, but I guess it must work. Once you've got a complete bead, tool it off. You can use a FUGI if you like, or a wet finger, or a plastic spoon handle, or a proper edging tool, or a plant label. Again, a single confident action is best. Fiddling about going over it again will just make a mess.

Leave the water in overnight so the sealant cures in that position.

 

[Need Help21]

excellent. Such a long and detailed piece of advice must have taken an age to write and is very greatly appreciated.

thank you

 

[mickyg]

get the fugi tool its absolutely superb. Couldn't be without it.

 

[rekab69]

Here's the way I apply silicon, as above buy the best you can as you really don't want to be doing it over and over again.

I cut my nossel straight and hold it at 45dec and "push" it away from you this forces the silicon into the joint rather than just "laying a bead" on top. Right or wrong?? As I push it along I watch the flow out of the tube as it oozes out I move it along to keep an even flow rate. Stop on a grout line if you need to reposition.

I then make a wooden chisel (err.. before hand) the width of my finished bead required and cut off nice and clean, I spray the whole area with a mixture of soapy water and placing the chisel at an angle I tool up the silicon having a wade of paper towel handy I tool of a large "worm" of silicon stopping on a grout line when it gets to big and flick it onto the paper towel.

Dip the wooden chisel into a cup of the soapy water to stop the silicon sticking to it.

Most if not all of the excess will come away and any left will not stick to the tiles or bath because of the soapy mixture.

Any that does stick can be remove with a stanley blade once dry.

As above fill the bath with water.

Make sure you have a clean swip. try before hand with a silicon gun, behind taps can be a pain, best remove them if poss or the heads might be enough.

If you mess up you can lay the chisel flat on top and draw backwards, if
it goes really wrong allow it to dry, remove and have another go.

Good luck..

 

[andy21275]

I once got a good tip of a old boy, when using silicon, use masking tape approx 4mm up from bath and 4mm approx from wall, apply silicon, wipe of with wet finger, remove tape and lightly go over again with wet finger. Perfect finish everytime. Once you get good at it, you dont need the tape but always a good start for beginers.