Sealant around bath not setting!

Hi,

Having just moved in to a new house I was pleased to find :-) the sealant round the bath leaking and that it had ruined the ceiling of the downstairs toilet as well!

I removed the quarter round bit of plastic and what seemed like several tubes of old sealant from around the bath and cleaned up the tiles and bath edge pretty well (IMHO). I used a tube of white B&Q Waterproof Shower, Bath and Kitchen Sealant. I could see that I was going to need to apply more than I would like due to the size of the gap between the bath and the walls, so I applied it in two layers allowing a few hours for the first layer to set a bit before applying the second.

Now the part behind the taps has set perfectly, but the strip along the side of the bath refuses to set! It is now 48 hours later and it is still soft. Is this due to the amount of sealant I used (am I just being impatient?) or could there be another problem? Both the end with the taps and the side of the bath are on outside walls and the tiles have been taken just below the level of the bath and the bath put in with a larger gap between the side than the end with the taps.

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail
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How thick is your sealant at it's thickest? Is it silicone sealant? Did it smell vinegary when applied? How old was the tube?

Reply to
Grunff

I had this problem due to a large uneven gap between bath and wall . Fillling it with sealant was unsuccessful and untidy . What i did was use a hard plastic trim I found in Homebase . It is about and inch and a half wide and curved in shape. I think its actually meant for putting at the top of a row of ceramic tiles . I cut it to length and mitred the corner ( compund mitred because it sits at an angle) and fixed it to the wall and bath with silicon then sealed the top and bottom with white silicone using masking tape to make it neat -worked very well and look s much better . Stuart

Reply to
Stuart

In message , Grunff writes

I would say 7mm wide (the visible bit) by about 10mm deep (down the side of the bath).

It doesn't specifically say that no.

Hmm, I would say not.

The tube was about 12 months old but had not been opened.

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

Sounds like it may have been acrylic. Acrylic sealnt is extremely poor.

It will set ok, but will probably take a week or so. It will not last very long. Next time you redo it, use silicone.

Sorry this isn't good news!

Reply to
Grunff

I haven't tried it, but this looks interesting.

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Reply to
Chris J Dixon

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

On 10/01/2004 Stuart opined:-

I recently redid our bathroom. I used some of that plastic seal on a

3+m roll and found it to be very effective. It is in a roll, sticky backed and you remove some plastic from the sticky side before applying. It is hinged down the centre and quite flexible. One side sticks to the bath, the other to the tiles and you just cut it with scissors. It is available in two widths to accomodate wider gaps.

It provides a much neater finish than silicon sealant and mold does not grow on the finished result. It is between £5 and £8 a roll, depending upon where you buy it.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

and dont you need to use it when tiling and not afterwards ? Stuart

Reply to
Stuart

Next time you do it fill the bath with water first - it'll give you a better, longer lasting seal. (Same applies if you use the sealant strip mentioned in another message.)

Reply to
Peter Johnson

I did that. It not a problem with it separating it just wont set!

Thanks, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

I have read every word on the tube and it doesn't mention silicone anywhere, so I guess you are right.

I think I might clean it out again and get some silicone sealant anyway. I don't want to have to redo the downstairs toilet ceiling again!

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

The acrylic stuff can literally take weeks to cure and even then is not satisfactory.

I would pull it off and remove the rest with water - should still be soluble.

Then do again with a silicone sealer. Assuming that you have reasonable warmth and humidity, it will cure in a few hours.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

I tried that stuff a few years ago. If theres any kind of movement of the bath or the seal to the bath is otherwise broken, then mould will grow underneath and leaks will occur but probably unseen. I wouldn't use it again... The way to get a good seal is to make the gap as small as poss to start with. Even jacking up the bath a bit more often helps.

Reply to
BillR

Thanks for the help everyone, I replaced the non-setting sealant with a good quality silicone one and everything is fine now.

Regards, BraileTrail

Reply to
BraileTrail

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