Leaks around baths and shower trays

[Gerard Robinson]

Any body out there ever install a strip of plastic with a soft rubbe

edge pressed against the ledge to form a watertight seal around showe trays and baths. I am interested because there is a body of opinio (including the British Standard) that suggests these preformed strip are not suitable as watertight seals for joints that expand. Thes strips are fixed to the wall and when the ledge drops down (due weigh deflection or shrinkage as floor joists dry out in new homes) th pressure of the soft rubber lip on the ledge that forms the seal i lost and so the integrity of the seal is diminished or lost. Anybod have any problems or wish to offer their comments

-- Gerard Robinson

[Bob Mannix]

Yes, they are crap, not because they dont seal, you can fix that by pre-loading the bath/tray before fixing, but because they yellow/change colour/go hard and you can't change them as they are fixed behind the tiles. Plus, although they seal OK along their length, corners are a right bastard to get a neat seal.

[Phil Anthropist]

In my experience they don't result in a watertight seal with acrylic baths and shower trays that are subject to flexing movement during use. They may be watertight at first but the adhesive which fixes the strip to the wall eventually fails due to movement of the bath or shower tray edge. For the same reason, bath edge silicone sealant also fails eventually. Srewfix does this,

but I haven't tried it myself.

[Lee]

Installed one of those when tiling the bathroom a few weeks ago - not long enough to offer an opinion yet ;) Personally think it looks better than silicone, but some may not like its appearance.

Lee

[sm_jamieson]

I used one of these before, and will again. Note there are 2 types, the ones where the upstand is installed under the tiles and the ones stuck on top of the tiles. The latter are crap. The former are the best way to get a seal. You stick the edge to the bath with silicone. The one I used had a softer edge but was not rubber, and I would not expect it to go yellow. Got it from the local plumbers merchants. Cut corner mitres with a sharp knife and bed in silicone - no problem. The result is more durable than just silicon, But ... if the structure/bath is moving all over the place, nothing will work, except perhaps those strips with a sliding device in them, but these are bulky and look horrible. If you support the bath on something bolted to a brick wall, floor joists drying out will not be a problem. If the wall moves, you REALLY have problems. Simon.