Silicon bead tools

[mark]

Those little plastic silicon bead finishing tools seem to be pricey for what they are. Are they worth it?

mark

[A.Lee]

Certainly. I did a bath before Christmas, I was going to fit some sealing strips, but thought I'd tried a silicone bead first, used the Fugenboy, and it came out excellent, so saved myself £20 on bath strips. They are now £8 at Screwfix reduced from £10. Alan.

[Lobster]

Fugenboys? Oh yes!

Google the archives for more.

David

[The Medway Handyman]

Fugenboy or similar? Without any doubt. Worth several times the asking price.

[JoeJoe]

Just out of interest - what happens to the excess silicon with these tools? Does it go all over the place as you run the tool along, or is it collected nicely to be wiped off the tool?

I am pretty good with almost everything DIY, but applying silicon is something that is simply beyond me (lack of practice I suppose).

[The Medway Handyman]

Collects on the face of the tool, to be wiped off on kitchen roll or similar.

10 mins with a Fugenboy, you will be a master. You simply wouldn't believe how well they work.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Crikey - I paid about 15 quid less than a year ago. And thought them worth every penny.

[Spamlet]

But oh so much easier than putty: dreadful stuff which I simply cannot do!

S

[Brass Monkey]

Scuse my ignorance, aren't these simply bits of shaped plastic?

[RW]

Yep.

My question is what happens if the 2 sides being "shaped" with the device are not at 90 deg? Does the mastic slide past the edge of the tool ?

[Spamlet]

Until now I've always used the end of various kitchen wooden spoons etc, or more recently, pieces of plastic ch pipe (which if, off a roll, have a handy curve). Looking at the pictures of the Fugenboy, I can see there might be advantages of using the flat bits of plastic as this ought to help scrape the excess off the walls etc. Might not glide as easily as my spoons though...

Incidentally, has anyone worked out how to get sealer down the inside of a roughened window pane (our bathroom windows have a sort of granular faceted surface which picks up all the dirt) to reduce condensation penetration? Making the seal is one thing: cleaning the excess off the glass afterwards, quite another! Luckily I chose to use transparent sealer this time!

S

[John Rumm]

Yes. Absolutely, don't even think of not buying one, you will never look back.

The Fugi ones are my preferred set:

[John Rumm]

Of sorts, yes. They are made from a slightly elastic material that wipes clean of most sealants, and they have a nicely shaped and feathered edge. They work so well because they wipe the adjacent surfaces so cleanly that you don't get thin wisps of sealant left all over the place. The material is hard enough to wear well, but flexible to act a little like a squeegy.

[John]

What about behind taps and other 'obstructions'? Are these areas 'blended in' with a wet finger?

Cheers

John

[John Rumm]

If the corner is < 90 then you can you tip the tool so that it presents the required angle. Obviously greater than 90 would require two passes - the first using slightly larger bead size than the second.

[John Rumm]

Its worth buying the set of tools with a narrow version included for this purpose. In extreme cases you may have to manufacture a tool from a bit of ice cream tub.

[John Rumm]

Place masking tape down the glass first. If you need to clean wet silicone off a surface then use a can of IPA (available from CPC in aerosol form).

[Bruce]

£7.82 at Screwfix this afternoon.

[Andy Dingley]

Fugenboy is, even for a tenner. Don't know what it's made of, but it does just work better,

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Not really - they're a strange soft plastic almost like hard rubber and much thicker than a filling knife or whatever - and have a chamfer to one side.