Large gap around bath needs sealing!

hweddle

I'm in the process of fitting my new bath. However, after tiling, the corner the bath is being fitted in is not 90 degrees, so there is an angled gap down the bath. So, near the tap end, there is a gap of about 25mm, but at the end it touches the wall.

I've tried using this stuff:

http://www.homelux.co.uk/Pro-seal-BathSeal.asp

but the bath is freestanding but fitted. This means that there is quite a bit of movement in the height of the bath. So, this bath seal was not up to it. It pealed off the wall pretty quickly, and because it was not sealed to the bath, it leaked between the seal and the bath.

Can anyone suggest any alternatives? I have tiled all the way down to the floor, and the gap is way too big to just use silicon sealant. Many bath seals only seem to be for about 14mm gaps, so I am struggling for an alternative.

Thanks!

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Soubrette

Hi hweddle, I am a complete unprofessional bodger but we used that expandifoam stuff on our freestanding but fitted bath. We then cut it down and used that as a base for the silicone.

Sou

BobProperty

hweddle wrote: »

....but the bath is freestanding but fitted....

If it is designed to be freestanding then you will have to put up with limitations if you use it as a fitted bath. If you are using it as a fitted bath then you should put the bath in place first then tile down onto it. I hope you can understand why I am a bit confused and, as has been suggested, I would like to see a picture of the situation.

hweddle wrote: »

This means that there is quite a bit of movement in the height of the bath.

Freestanding or fitted it shouldn't "move".
Could you tell us what make and model this bath is, too?

irrelevant

In that situation, I'd first screw a batton of wood to the wall, under the lip of the bath. Then at least you've not got a bottomless pit to try and fill. Of course, if you can't now move the bath this might be tricky, but you may have room to reach the ends to fix them. Or resort to something like No More Nails to just glue it to the wall.

If the movement is vertical rather than sideways, put it slightly lower down, of course, so it doesn't get pulled off the wall when you fill the bath!

Then, it's up to your DIY skills - filing the whole thing up with silicone sealent is probably easiest, and as it's quite flexible may be all you need. Having the support underneath now means it's not going to fall out.

Bungarm2001

Need a picture.

You could try all sorts of things, but each method will have it's drawbacks. Post a picture and you will get much more practical help

Bigjenny

We did something like Soubrette.
Scraped old sealant out and cleaned surround, filled with expanded foam, when set cut back to below edge of bath. Applied one coat of sealant smoothed it and let it set, then applied another coat. Seems to be working fine, no leaks.

TimBuckTeeth

First of all you need to stop the bath moving so much, check the floorboards and bath mountings, maybe reinforce with plywood and blocks.
The trim strip you have should be OK, although a 25mm gap is a bit big, stick it on with silicone sealant rather than self adhesive strips. There are trim strips available that have a flexible part to allow movement of the bath, eg. from the same company : http://www.homelux.co.uk/Pro-seal-UltraSeal.asp
Can you move the bath away from the wall slightly and fit wooden battens to the wall as mentioned above, but level with the top of the bath, then use narrow tiles with curved edge trim to cover the wooden battens and overlap the top of the bath, mounting and sealing with silicone to give flexiblity.

hweddle

Thanks for all your replies, I'm sorry for the confusion; here is a picture of the bath:

As you can see, it is a freestanding bath, but two edges are fitted, allowing you to place it against a corner and so you can use it with a shower. Because of this, I have tiled from the ceiling down to the floor, not anticipating that the bath would fit so badly. The corner is not 90 degrees, so there is a gap, with the worst part being along the long side of the bath, just in the corner.
Also, because this bath does not have panels, you can see all fixings underneath. It also does not come with any fixings to secure it to the wall, or to the floor. I know the floor is level - I've just relaid the floorboards myself , and you cannot fix through the cast iron feet into the floor. So, I think the movement that occurs as you are getting in and out the bath are just because of the weight setting the bath off balance (I hope this makes sense!)

I bought the bath in the Bath Store, it's called a Norfolk bath, you can find more information on their website: http://www.bathstore.com/_application/bathstore/products/baths/roll-top-baths/

I wonder whether the solution might be to have a wooden baton underneath to plug the bottomless hole, fill with silicon, and then top with one of these standard bath seals? I know it might be a bit extreme, but I don't like the idea of how 25mm of silicon would look. I don't rate my silicon-ing skills much, so it would probably be rather uneven and lumpy over such a large space? So, the bath seal would be more cosmetic rather than functional.

Thanks again for all your replies.

BobProperty

:eek: Co-incidentally I've just fitted another bath that appears on the same web page.
I think there are a few issues here. First, the bath shouldn't be moving. Either the floor or the bath feet are causing a problem. Second, to help in solving the sealing issue (and not the moving part, though it will contribute but should not be relied on as the answer) you could use a batten along the wall under the far edge. Make it short enough not to show at the end of the bath. Now, mad suggestion, can you get a strip of uPVC trim along the top of the edge of the bath against the wall and make it look "reasonable"?

Off topic, I bet that overflow pipe was a laugh a minute to fit.

Giblets

Little bit of advice...fill the bath up with water before you seal it, and leave it full over night.
I sealed my bath, and about three times in a row, I got fungi growing in a crack along the length of the sealant ( despite it being flexible). As when someone stood in the bath for a shower, the floorboards/ bath etc, move slightly. Someone advised me to fill it with water, first, so this movement is taken into account, not had a problem since!

AMILLIONDOLLARS

My plumber used a plastic quadrant around my shower to stop it from leaking, similar to what I see in your picture, why don't you do the same thing?


AMD