redoing sealant around bath

mudgekin

Hi
I hope someone can advise here. We had a lovely bathroom fitted about 5 years ago complete with ceiling to floor tiles and now around the bath is yucky. The grout has broken in bits, the silicone looks as though it has black mold growing into it and it desperately needs redone

Money is very tight atm and so it will need to be me who does this :eek::eek::eek:. GH is worse than useless when it comes to DIY, seriously, it has cost me more over the years to get thinks fixed that he wrecks while attempting DIY.

I need a masterclass in this. I did buy a tool as a first step for removing the old junk

Should I use grout alone, silicone alone, or a mix of both. What products would be recommended for best outcome for a complete novice?

I desperately desperately need a new kitchen but I think I may manage the grouting replacement but the kitchen will be beyond me :cool:

thanks for any help guys

googler

Grout is for the gaps between tiles (which shouldn't move)

Silicone sealant is for corners and joints between surfaces which may move slightly - between baths and tiles, showers and tiles, etc.

globalds

This looks like fairly comprehensive instructions

http://www.handymanknowhow.co.uk/repairs/resiliconing%20around%20bath.htm

I would have filled the bath with water before applying the silicon and empty it after it has dried...But maybe you don't need to do that nowadays.

wallbash

But maybe you don't need to do that nowadays.

Why not , it was a good tip years ago , its takes little time and costs nothing .

But then again we might be just old fashioned.

keystone

globalds wrote: »

...But maybe you don't need to do that nowadays.

Absolutely you need to do it with an acrylic bath - especially the cheap ones peeps buy on teh interwebz.

Cheers

tiggerjj

My plumber did the bath filling thing, but didnt tell me how long it had to be filled, so i just left it, he laughed at me when he came back 2 days later as it was still full. Obviously still a valid thing to do though but two days is not required! hehe

Bettie

washing up liquid stops the silicone sticking to your finger/smoothing tool

Kirri

I need to do this too, I've got the tool and the silicone but have been too nervous to attempt it yet in case my attempt looks worse than the mouldy stuff there at the moment.. let us know how you get on!

wolfehouse

give it a try because you can always use a stanley knife, remove what you did
and redo it (if you don't like the results)

mumof2nanof2

Just a quick tip. I've been resealing my bath for years and find the best method is to mask off the tiles and the bath and once you have put on the sealer take the masking tape straight off, this leaves a really good proffesional edge. Also if you ever want to make your grout nice and white, paint the whole area with satin wood and just before the paint dries wipe off with a slightly damp cloth. The paint comes off the tiles but not the grout. By the way Bettie thanks for the washing up liquid tip, I usually use disposable gloves but it's still messy.

Bettie

mumof2nanof2 wrote: »

By the way Bettie thanks for the washing up liquid tip, I usually use disposable gloves but it's still messy.

I was worried first time I used it as it looked green and I thought " What have I done?" :eek: but when it was dry that rinsed off.:T