If you are not sure which bathroom sealant to use or how to apply it, here are some bathroom silicone tips that may help you. These tips are from my hands on experience in bathroom remodeling and bathroom silicone specifically.
I was curious about what my competitors and other building trade professionals had to say on the matter of bathroom sealants, so I read a few pages on different sites to see what advice they are giving. I found a lot of good advice but also some average and plain wrong information, so here are my tips and advice on the subject.
• First of all, do not use any other material but silicone and in particular only use a bathroom grade silicone. Do not use any polyurethane based sealant as it will start to gather mold, soon after application and use, with bacteria and other nasties growing inside and on the surface of it, giving it that ugly dark discoloring as well.
• Make sure that the tiles and grout as well as other surfaces the silicone will be applied to, like bath and sink edge and so on, are cleaned properly and completely dry.
For example, if the tiler has just grouted the tiles then let the grout dry for 2 or 3 days. When the grout has cured and dried, wipe the inch or so strip along where the silicone will be applied, especially in the gaps with a clean cloth moistened with methylated spirits.
If it’s an existing bathroom make sure the floor and walls, especially the shower cubicle, is thoroughly cleaned of scum and grease, washed and rinsed and dried before silicone application.
• I always use an “acetic cure” bathroom grade silicone a opposed to a “neutral cure”, because it will bond better to surfaces like glazed ceramics, porcelain or glass and I can get a very smooth finish. Acetic cure silicones have acetic acid which etches the surface, thereby providing a better bond. There is about 3% acetic acid found in vinegar, so if you use the acetic cure silicone, it will smell like vinegar during the time it cures and dries.
If you use the acetic cure type bathroom grade silicone, please be aware that once it is squeezed out of the cartridge, it starts to cure and gets a skin on the surface very quickly so there is a need to work fast and smooth out the surface before it gets that skin. It is also the case with neutral cure type silicone but the curing starts even faster with the acetic cure type.
• After preparing the surfaces to be sealed, I use masking tape to tape up along each side of the gap to be sealed, about 3-5 mm to each side of the gap, until all is taped up. This is time consuming plus you need to know what you’re doing and work fast once you started to apply the silicone. However the finish that you get is so neat and the surface so smooth that it’s worth the trouble, especially when I do high end, expensive bathrooms.
The following is the procedure if you use the masking tape approach.
After masking everything up, you need to have an empty cardboard of reasonable size ready for discarding the tape covered with access silicone when you peel the tape off. It will make the job less messy for you. You will also need to have a small container of dish washing liquid, preferably clear, mixed with 50% water, ready to be used next to your work area for touching up spots of silicone after you peel the tape off.
You will need a caulking gun for silicone cartridges which you can buy in any hardware, a sharp knife or scissors and a silicone smoothening tool which you can also buy at most hardware stores. You also need some rags and methylated spirits so you can clean the tools or any mess you make. These items are inexpensive and necessary to do the job properly.
Get the silicone cartridges and the tools mentioned above close and handy to your work area as you need to work fast because the silicone, especially acetic cure type, will get a dry skin on the surface very fast especially if it is hot.
Get the silicone smoothening tool set out and choose the correct diameter scraping tip by trying it out against the gaps, meaning between the 2 masking tapes. The trick to getting a neat job is to use the smoothening tool to push the silicone down firmly against the masking tape edges and scrape off all excess silicone, so that when you pull the tape off there will be very little or no silicone on the tape edge thereby the tape will not pull up any silicone which will make for a super neat job.
Cut off the tip of the silicone nozzle on about 30 degree angle so that the diameter at the shortest width is about the same as the width of the gap to be sealed and try it out by putting it between the tape.
Once you get the opening of the nozzle about right, cut off the end of the silicone cartridge where the nozzle will be screwed on, screw on the nozzle, put the cartridge into the caulking gun and squeeze out the silicone out till it reaches the tip of the nozzle. Now you are ready to start squeezing the silicone into the gaps between the masking tape.
Before you start, think about where you will start and which way you will go so that you don’t lose time moving things around once you start.
Put the nozzle tip on the gap where you want to start and start squeezing out the silicone by pushing the trigger. Make sure the silicone is filling up the gap evenly and keep going till you do one section or one length, from wall to wall for example. When you finish filling the silicone in that section, use the smoothening tool mentioned to scrape off ( smooth out) that silicone making sure that you scrape of all the silicone on the tape edges. Do a final smoothening by starting at one end and not stopping with the motion till you reach the other end.
Depending on the temperature and how fast you are working you can do another length in the same way and then peel off and discard the tape into the cardboard box you have handy next to you, or you can peel off the tape one length at a time. After you peel off the tape on each length, wet your finger tip in the dish washing liquid with water and touch up any imperfections by tapping your wet finger on the imperfection. You should only touch the spots that need it, usually in the corners where the smoothening tool might not reach properly. Do not run your finger anywhere else as you will ruin the job and the silicone edges will not be neat.
Repeat until you finish all the lengths. Clean up the smoothening tool and any dropped silicone with a rag and methylated spirits and discard the cardboard box with tape and waste in an ecologically friendly manner.
Make sure that the bathroom is well ventilated and leave the silicone to cure according to the instructions on the silicone cartridge. The silicone gets dry very fast on the surface but it will still be soft inside for a while, so leave it for a day or two before you start using your shower for example. The curing time can vary on the temperature and you should always follow the manufactures specifications.
Generally I always read the instructions if I am using a new material or even a different brand of the same material as it is a good work practice.
You can also apply the bathroom silicone free hand, without masking tape, which is much faster but you need to be experienced, have a steady hand and you will not achieve that neat and precise look. I will try to write another article on this topic as the one you just read is already too long for comfort.
If you follow my bathroom silicone tips above, you should have a professionally looking silicone job in your bathroom. Mind you, different professionals have their own tips and tricks and different standards and knowing how to do something is one thing but actually doing it is another. In any case I hope this was helpful and good luck with your bathroom silicone.
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