Decorators' Caulk used as silicone round bath?

cyclonebri1

briclegg wrote: »

you could put quadrant small tiles at joint of bath and wall so the tiles sit on the bath and if fixed with tile adhesive should be waterproof

But they look awful???


I'm guessing they used an acrylic sealant rather than silicone, not dissimilar to deco caulk and again a little cheaper, but like caulk does not take up enough movement.

I have a few points to make, forgive me for not quoting names, can't recall who said what.

The smell of silicone is acetic acid, vinegar in effect, some actually like the smell and it soon dissipates. Silicone isn't that difficult to work with.

As I think macman said, you have £50 held back, more than enough to fix the siliconing issue, but, as suggested even caulk should seal if there is no movement,. It is highly likely you have movement and no sealant will cure that.

Any outfit that takes a shortcut to save £3 on sealant will have skimped elsewhere, ie, the actual fitting of the bath, hence movement.

You seem to have a very good offer of assistance, :T:T:T, top man, take advantage of it.

southcoastrgi

as cy said i think your bath is moving too much & the nuppty has used the wrong stuff to seal it.

take up mb on his kind offer & make sure you get some decent biccies, well done that man :T

melb

oh i will then I just didn't know if he was a bathroom fitter or biscuit addict!

muckybutt

melb wrote: »

oh i will then I just didn't know if he was a bathroom fitter or biscuit addict!

Just a competant tradesman but a bit of a biccie addict as well

melb

hi mickeybutt have sent you a pm x

budgetdiyer

mart.vader wrote: »

Decorators caulk £1.25 per tube : http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-decorator-s-caulk-white-310ml/57568 - "A water-based, single component, flexible instant acrylic filler for sealing and filling gaps and cracks. Ideal for use around skirting boards, ceilings and architraves."

White Silicone £2.99 per tube : http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-gp-silicone-white-310ml/74018 - "Quick-curing, acetoxy Silicone for a permanent watertight, flexible seal. Good adhesion properties, suitable for sealing glass, aluminium, painted surfaces, sanitarywear, ceramics and non-porous surfaces."

Note that one is water-based and the other is watertight. That should explain why caulk will leak and silicone shouldn't.

You proved my point! £1.75 difference in price at the budget end of market. These tradesmen must be making a killing ripping off all these customers with decorators caulk instead of silicone.

What do they use half a tube per job (and thats being generous) so they are making an extra 88p per job amazing! They must be rolling in it!

Lets also not forget that the OP has a retainer on this job, so why the hell would the contractor risk the balancing payment for saving £1.75 on a tube of sealant!

mart.vader

budgetdiyer wrote: »

You proved my point! £1.75 difference in price at the budget end of market. These tradesmen must be making a killing ripping off all these customers with decorators caulk instead of silicone.

What do they use half a tube per job (and thats being generous) so they are making an extra 88p per job amazing! They must be rolling in it!

Lets also not forget that the OP has a retainer on this job, so why the hell would the contractor risk the balancing payment for saving £1.75 on a tube of sealant!

You and I have not been there so we don't know but, the OP's insurance plumber says they used Decorators Caulk instead of silicone sealant, so I am inclined to believe them. The OP said "would there be any benefit to them to use the incorrect substance?"

Cheapness might have been a factor, or plain ignorance, I suppose, maybe he didn't have any silicone, and couldn't be a$$ed to get some. If you can think of any other reason, budgetdiyer, don't keep quiet, let us know. Whatever the reason, so far as we know, they did use caulk, and it has risked (and lost) the retained payment for £1.75 on a tube of sealant.

As I said, and you now agree, caulk is cheaper. At the non-budget end of the market, the difference is a lot more. Whether it is enough to persuade the numpty to use it instead of the right stuff, who knows (or cares).

budgetdiyer

One if the op or the insurance assessor is wrong since the op describes the sealant as matt and hard.

Decorators caulk would be matt but not hard, if it was in a bead you'd be able to press and indent it, besides when it get wet shortly after applies it goes all mushy and soft.

Anyway whatever was used based on that description it wasn't the correct sealant. My bets on the picked up the wrong tube from their van.

Bettie

Maybe they used something like this:
http://reviews.diy.com/2191-en_gb/11348628/reviews.htm
I did - around my sink. It dried like caulk. shrunk and cracked.
Bought one in the pound shop once and that was ok.

andygb

andyhop wrote: »

Dow Corning 785 or mapei mapesil ....only 2 I would ever use

Tooled with a soap soloution and not spit......dirty bast****

I agree, use the correct stuff and do the job once. I have used Mapei for the last few years for various jobs in my home and relation's houses and it is great - not cheap, but excellent.
Another little tip for the OP.
If you have a leak behind/around the bath, then it can lead to a ceiling failure in the room below. If you have a detachable bath panel, then you could make a simple, waterproof seal underneath the bath where nobody can see it. This does not cure the leak problem but will ensure that water seepage does not damage anything else. I have used an old piece of vinyl, slipped underneath the bath at the taps/wall end, and sealed it along the wall with lots of silicone sealant. If there is a leak then the water will be captured and will be obvious before causing any damage. I adopted this method after having a collapsed kitchen cieling due to a bodge job by a trade (recommend) plumber. I check underneath the bath every week for leaks.
As for silicon sealant being messy, it is easy to use latex gloves and wear old clothing.