bathroom sealant tragedy

maza68

I have just had a new bathroom suite fitted in. I am not happy at all with the job the plumber did: mainly the sealant around the basin, toilet and bath has been applied terribly, its thick and so obvious. Is there a way this can be corrected? Can I remove it and put other sealant on? How difficult will it be? Of course I do not want it to get worse!! I am just worried I am going to make it worse , I am having these visions of leaks etc.
But the look at the moment is not a good one either!

Can anyone please help? Many thanks!

diable

How thick is thick? Have you any photos?

maza68

To Diable:
at worst it is nearly half an inch, around the toilet
at best around a fifth of an inch (around the basin/bath)

maza68

diable wrote: »

How thick is thick? Have you any photos?

To Diable:
at worst it is nearly half an inch, around the toilet
at best around a fifth of an inch (around the basin/bath)

icky15

Presumably it's a silicone sealant which has been used (a rubbery soft feel to it). It comes in various colours but is usually white for bathrooms. It's an excellent sealant. It comes in 310gm tubes at B&Q or Homebase. I've put a couple of links at the end of this. Buy a tube of the correct colour. You'll also have to buy an 'applicator' or 'gun' used for applying the stuff. To remove it can be easy - Just lift a corner of it and, if you're lucky and you don't pull too fast, it will pull out completely along its length. If you're unlucky, you might have to scrape out bits that have been left behind. Don't mark the enamel when doing this. When the 'worksite' has been cleaned up of old silicone (and dirt & grease) then fit the new tube of silicone into the gun and cut off the top of the nozzle. That's the 'nipple' at the top of the tube. Only cut off the top and leave the threaded bit untouched. Then screw on the longer nozzle which will have been supplied and, if it doesn't already have a hole in the end, then cut off the tip of this nozzle as well (not too much, you can always cut off more if you haven't made the hole large enough). If you've put the tube and gun together properly then operation of the trigger will cause the silicone to flow out of the nozzle. Now, if you do it carefully and don't go too fast you can lay a good track of it down. You might want to smooth it down along its length by dragging your finger along it but it's messy stuff when it's 'wet' and there's a tool you can get to do this. Leave it for a few hours to 'cure' then, hopefully, it'll be better than it was before. Good Luck ! Try these two links - http://!!!!!!!.com/nmuq63 http://!!!!!!!.com/l6oxn4

maza68

icky15 wrote: »

Presumably it's a silicone sealant which has been used (a rubbery soft feel to it). It comes in various colours but is usually white for bathrooms. It's an excellent sealant. It comes in 310gm tubes at B&Q or Homebase. I've put a couple of links at the end of this. Buy a tube of the correct colour. You'll also have to buy an 'applicator' or 'gun' used for applying the stuff. To remove it can be easy - Just lift a corner of it and, if you're lucky and you don't pull too fast, it will pull out completely along its length. If you're unlucky, you might have to scrape out bits that have been left behind. Don't mark the enamel when doing this. When the 'worksite' has been cleaned up of old silicone (and dirt & grease) then fit the new tube of silicone into the gun and cut off the top of the nozzle. That's the 'nipple' at the top of the tube. Only cut off the top and leave the threaded bit untouched. Then screw on the longer nozzle which will have been supplied and, if it doesn't already have a hole in the end, then cut off the tip of this nozzle as well (not too much, you can always cut off more if you haven't made the hole large enough). If you've put the tube and gun together properly then operation of the trigger will cause the silicone to flow out of the nozzle. Now, if you do it carefully and don't go too fast you can lay a good track of it down. You might want to smooth it down along its length by dragging your finger along it but it's messy stuff when it's 'wet' and there's a tool you can get to do this. Leave it for a few hours to 'cure' then, hopefully, it'll be better than it was before. Good Luck ! Try these two links - http://!!!!!!!.com/nmuq63 http://!!!!!!!.com/l6oxn4

Many thanks for your reply - very encouraging! please can you send the links again, I tried them and it says it has been broken up.

Tallymanjohn

Just a couple of extra pointers - you can buy cheap tools at B&Q etc. for sealant removal if it doesn't come away cleanly. Do a bit of practising on getting an even track - it's definitely an art to get it looking good. As icky15 says, if it is still uneven you can also smooth it into a concave shape by running your finger along it straight after application, having well wetted your finger beforehand & re-wetting every couple of feet - again, practice a bit beforehand.

Tallymanjohn

A quick Google found another on-line retailer doing the same kit for £13.22

gabyjane

Hi we had a new bathroom floor done not long after we moved into our new build as didnt like the one down, they did an ok job but i am picky so re did it myself (normally ide ring and complain but they are lovely guys and had probs with their shop at the time)..i ripped it all out and re sealed it using the gun as method icky15 said above. Squeeze it out carefully and run a wet finger along it to smooth it as you go, worked fine for me and dh was very impressed, so was i actually but didnt tell him that!..
The house has settled a bit now and there are slight cracks in it now so i will have to re do again at some point but not hard.
Good luck

Tucker

I fitted my own bathroom last year and have found out about the best and worse silicones the hard way with leaks!

My advice, don't touch any B&Q home brand stuff, because it started to peel off the shower tray in a matter of months. You also pay well over the odds at places like that, with the better stuff being £10 a tube.

Independent plastic / UVPC sales counters will sell you better bathroom sealant at a fraction of the price.

After trying several, the one that worked v.well was Evo Stik Serious Stuff. It was the easiest to apply and it's stuck solid ever since. Got it cheap from an auction web site. £10 in B&Q.

The only down side was that whist it went on looking very white, a few weeks after it cured it looked a bit more cream colour.

Pssst

I usually mask off a line where the sealnt will go with some tape. This gives a nice clean line with no splodges.