seal shower tray, possibly 3 layers?

chezybezy

hi there, me again!

hopefully this is a nice easy one, i need to reseal around a shower.

After removing the old sealant (way too much) it looks like i'm left with 3 sections which will need to be done. I think they "tiled" into a tiling strip (its defo attached to the tile, and has grout up to it in some places) and the shower base has dropped. so i think the 3 section idea is the only way to cover all my bases as the strip will not remove.

1 run along the shower base to the bottom of the strip, 1 along the top of the strip to the tiles, and one over all this lot to make it smoother and hide the fact the damn thing is cream!
so do i try do this all in one go? or do i seal the tray and above strip sections then let these dry and then do the 3rd over this?
i do have dow c 785.
the pics show masking tape etc.
thank you (i have put this up elsewhere as i need to try get this done tonight).
https://imgur.com/ixlNOJw
https://imgur.com/OCtDNGh

phill99

Sorry but this looks like a real cowboy installation. If your tray has dropped, you need to deal with the reason behind it rather than just adding more mastic, which will only fail again.

chezybezy

phill99 wrote: »

Sorry but this looks like a real cowboy installation. If your tray has dropped, you need to deal with the reason behind it rather than just adding more mastic, which will only fail again.

Yep, inherited it with the "new" house. Trust me this is one of the better jobs in this place.
Unsure when the tray dropped, could have been years before I moved in. So was thinking just replace the manky sealant.

phill99

TBH I would be tempted to get someone in to rip it out and start again.

chezybezy

phill99 wrote: »

TBH I would be tempted to get someone in to rip it out and start again.

I really wish I could, trust me I do. Sadly can't. Any other thoughts? *fingers crossed*

fwor

What you really need to do is to find out if the movement was in the past or is still happening. You can do this by placing a witness mark on the wall immediately next to it and then getting someone relatively heavy to stand in all 4 corners of the tray while you watch for movement relative to the mark.

If the maximum movement is a fraction of a mm then you may well get away with resealing. If it's more than a mm or so then as above - it really needs to be pulled out and the underlying cause investigated.

It's not always true that movement will continue - if for example it was laid on timbers that have warped/shrunk then it may settle to a relatively static position. Sadly that's not often the case!

Jonesya

I don't think you need the masking tape, I think it'll give you a worse result as it might give you a ragged edge to the silicone.

I'd get the area very clean then apply the silicone and use a proper sealant tool to get a neat finish. They only cost a couple of quid and give a much better result than a wet finger, you shouldn't need the masking tape.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unibond-1582528-UniBond-Sealant-Finishing/dp/B001DZTYG2