the silicon around my bath and shower is degrading rapidly after only 12 months, in fact the shower is gone altogether. can anyone recommend a suitable replacement that will last linger than 1 year ?
Les
the silicon around my bath and shower is degrading rapidly after only 12 months, in fact the shower is gone altogether. can anyone recommend a suitable replacement that will last linger than 1 year ?
Les
It would, as it's an extremely brittle material.
You need to use silicone. ;-)
If it is silicone, in which way has it degraded? It certainly tends to get dirty quickly, but should still function for many a year.
I used SILIRUB 2/S a neutral silicone by Soudal when I fitted my bathroom/shower six years ago, still looks like new.
Brad.
SiliconE?
:-)
it seems to have shrunk and lost it's grip on the tiles/bath/shower base
Les
You'll have to razor blade what you can off and get the finish as smoth and clean as you can. You probably had grease or something on the places you applied it. There are different grades of mastic for batrooms, some of which are not silicon and there are a variety of "modules" that describe how it functions. You want one that is fungicidal as well as quite hard when set. The acrylic ones go fairly hard. They are not considered as good as the silicon ones though. I'm not sure there is a good reason for that.
Sounds like one of two possibilities - either the product you used last time was not "real" silicone and an inferior "mastic", or it was not installed correctly. Correctly installed silicone should last for at least ten years.
Things to remember when installing - Firstly, surfaces want to be clean and dry and free from grease. Secondly (and the most usual cause of failure) is not observing the limitations of the product - it is only supposed to work when the total movement between the sealed surfaces does not exceed 10% to 15% of the total sealant thickness. So if your fitting is able to move 1mm with respect to the wall - then you would need a 10mm bead of sealant to be able to repeatedly absorb the movement without it failing over time.
One trick that can help (especially with baths) is to fill them with water before sealing, and keep them full until the sealant is set. That way the sealant is unlikely to be stretched as much under use, and will spend most of its time under slight compression. So with a shower tray you could pile in a few bags of sand or something else heavy into the tray before sealing.
To remove the original sealant you can get a "silicone eater" product from Screwfix that will help (but only if the original sealant was real silicone)
Anyone tried germanium? :-))
Presumably you mean germanione ? I wonder if it exists ?
-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
Are they annuals or perennials
Doesn't sound like it's shrunk, sounds like you have had movement of the bath and shower tray
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