Watertight sealant round hot & cold pipes?

[Eddy]

I'm wondering if there's something better to seal around hot and cold water pipes than the usual silicone sealant?

Water from the shower-head naturally splashes onto tiles in the region above the shower control. The water then trickles down the tiles as it is meant to but it then meets the ironware of the shower-control at the the two points where the hot and cold pipes poke through the wall to connect with the control. The plumber who fitted the shower-control can't have sealed up the holes around the pipes before he fitted the ironware. So some of the water is dribbling into two holes, saturating the adjacent tiles and, presumably, the wall behind.

I'm planning to take off the ironware myself and fill up the holes, but am wondering if there's something better to use than just the usual silicone sealant?

Thanks.

Eddy.

[Steve Firth]

It depends how much you want to pay. Sikaflex is much better than silicone sealant for use when continuously immersed. It's also much more expensive. If you want a compromise then MS-polymer sealants (modified silicon co-polymer sealants) are extremely good for use when wet. They are slightly less jelly-like than silicone and can be sanded and overpainted (not relevant in your application).

Evostick Nail and Seal is an MS-polymer sealant. You can get it from some branches of B&Q mainly the larger ones. Don't get confused by other products with similar names.

is the cheapest supplier I could find:

[Reentrant]

Silicone is used to bond the glass in aquaria and lasts donkey's years of continuous immersion under pressure.

[george (dicegeorge)]

but at constantish temperature, water pipes change temperature a lot and move..

[g]

[Steve Firth]

You are of coruse free to quote any silicone manufacturer recommending their cheap shed sealant for use when continuously immersed.

[Corporal Jones]

That is the good thing about good quality silicon, it is flexible. I have used it for donkeys years (well at least the last 30) to seal vacuum pipes that start at atmospheric and pull down to 5mb, you can visibly see the flexible pipe shrink and stretch at 15 cycles per min. but the silicon holds the seal. For this use I use "Wacker" or "GE RTV", the sheds sell inferior products

[Eddy]

it's worth me going for the Sikaflex. I don't want ANY water dribbling in at some point in the future and have to go through the misery of taking the ironware to bits again!

Eddy.

[Eddy]

Thanks, Corporal, re. Wacker and GE RTV. Have looked them up on the web and they would clearly suit my job well.

Eddy.

[Steve Firth]

TBH I recommend the EvoStick for your use. It's more like a paste than Sikflex. Sikaflex is very runny and difficult to smooth with a finger or a tool. EVONAS can be shaped with silicone sealant tools, dissolves in white spirit so you can wipe it off and it saves you money.

[Eddy]

for the Nail-Seal instead of the Sikaflex. However, for your interest, pvrdirect slap on a whopping £8 (P&P plus VAT) on top of the £5.75, while Amazon only put £2 P&P on top of their price of £7.61. So that's £9.60 vs £13.45. The giant wins again.

Thanks again for help.

Eddy.

[Steve Firth]

You're welcome. The good thing with EVONAS btw is the screw on cap. Once you've used some you can put the red cap bacl on and it will keep the sealant fresh for weeks. Even after a year you can simply wind a small screw into the plug or hardened sealer, pull it out (the plug will be about half an inch long) and start to use the sealant again. It works out more economical than all the gunged up silicone tubes I've lived with.