Silicone Mastic Tools

[GB]

Silicone mastic tools - what do you guys recommend for smoothing out mastic and getting a nice neat finish? I have about 30 metres to do, and I usually use loads of mastic and make a mess of it.

[alan]

For kitchen/bathroom application?

Google Fugenboy or Fugi

Youtube

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 22 June 2013 02:10 alan wrote in uk.d-i-y:

+1 I have a kit of those. Keep it clean as you go with kitchen towell and every 15 mins or so, give the tool a further wipe with meths - that takes the silicone film off.

[Chris J Dixon]

I've had the Aldi ones for a while, with a job for them coming up soon. Has anybody experience of whether they are as good?

Chris

[The Medway Handyman]

I've used those & they are very good.

[Mr Pounder]

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Seem like lots of Aldi/Lidl tools - pretty good without the fancy name and price. Mine also have some different shapes to my fugenboy set so complimentary to that.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Use just enough and use your finger. Ok, for 30m even I might see the use of a plastic doofer.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 22 June 2013 16:35 Grimly Curmudgeon wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I've done both and I have never considered a silicone job reasonable until I used one of the tools.

I find fingers harder to wipe clean and you tend to leave a wide very thin film on the surface which then peels off leaving a "edge" on the joint which either gets dirty or becomes a point of failure. The tools make a much cleaner cut to the joint.

For the price of any of these tools, I'd say it was money well spent :)

[Bert Coules]

It's interesting that the YouTube video demonstrates everything in detail but carefully confines the action to just under the width of a single tile: it never shows the smoothing of silicone along several tiles, crossing the joints of the tiles above or below: this is just mentioned in the voiceover and illustrated with stills. I've always found this the hardest part to get a neat and consistent line on, since the ridges of the other joints tend to interrupt the smooth flow of the tool, even if you hold it at an angle as they suggest.

But I agree that these and similar tools are pretty well essential, and in some instances they work magnificently. I once managed a damn near perfect result with one when running mastic along the long join between a smooth kitchen worktop and an equally smooth laminate wall panel. I couldn't have got anywhere close with any other method.

[Murmansk]

You can get one basic-shaped tool for £2.40 at Wilkinson if you want to t ry one.

[GB]

Thanks everyone for the leads. At least now I know what to get. The facts that Screwfix are out of stock and the nearest Wilkos is not near at all leads me to ToolSatan. :)

[The Medway Handyman]

I don't know who first posted the ToolSatan typo, but I love the way it has stuck :-)