Bath and tiles were installed by now-despatched male, and he's left some of the tiles adequately close to the bath, but at one point there are a 4 tiles with up to a ~6mm gap to the bath with an airy gap behind.
I'm asked what is the best solution for filling a gap as large as this
- and as a follow up is there a silicone that is better than others at taking to an acrylic bath surface ?
Many thanks Rob
Ooo that's a bit cruel. Antifreeze?
"airy gap" you mean the sound hollow when tapped? They should be taken off and put back on so they are properly attached to the wall. They'll only fall off if you don't.
6mm is large but not overly so for silicone, might be tempted to do it in two passes though. The first one being to bulk fill the space but not up to the level of the times the second the neat final finsh. Which will be easier to do when supported by set silicone. Especially with "retail/domestic" silicone which tends to be far softer and runnier than "professional/trade" stuff.
As is so often the way, this description can be interpreted too many ways to get a suitable answer. Silicone is the thing to use between tiles and bath. Tiling needs to be good & solid, as tiles have no tolerance for movement whatsoever. If the 'airy gap' is behind a tile, either relay it or just squeeze waterproof tile adhesive behind it if you can fill the gap that way. If the gap's between tiles, waterproof tile grout should do the trick.
NT
I had some floor tiles done with 1cm between them and the wooden threshold I was installing in places. That's a bit more than I wanted, but I managed:
I backfilled the gap with oridinary clear silicone (basic one a tube that I don't have many other uses for) and left a few mm gap. Made sure that coat sealed everywhere down below.
Gave it a couple of days to cure, then did a finish application in grey to blend with the grout lines. Being a few mm thick that cured quickly and looks very smart.
I would fix any tiles that sound hollow, especially in a wet zone just above a bath - but double siliconing will make a fairly decent job of a 6mm gap.
I must ask my daughter if it was anti-freeze she used I think he was just shown the door, and not solely for DIY incompetence (which Dad is now having to now sort out :>( ! )
Sorry if the description was ambiguous - the tiling is OK. It's the space behind where the infill needs to go that has nothing for any sealant to pack against.
No one picked up on the second question which is are the better- quality(?) by price sealants that much better than the cheap ones?
Thanks for your assistance so far.
Rob
So big airy voids behind the edge of the bath? Pack with newspaper or somthing to stop vast quantities of silicone disappearing but still leave a decent depth, about a tiles thickness for the silicone to fully fill when it is squeezed in from the tube.
Price has some influence but I wouldn't rely on it. Brand is probably a better indicator.
Many thanks, guys, for your help. I've sent the link to the said daughter so it is up to her to read it now and apply the necessary skills. I'm no better at applying silicone than she is and I gave her a new silicon gun the other day, so it's up to her now.
Rob
Have you advised her to get a fugenboy?
n.b. This isn't a younger replacement for the recently dispatched b/f
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