How to Silicon seal bath to shiny porcelain tiles

[theanalyst]

HI guys,

Am I glad I found this place :hurray:

Im trying to Silicon seal my new bath to some 600 x 300 Porcelain (shiny) tiles. And I am having a nightmare!

The tile shop said the tiles were pre sealed? and did not need sealing...

so as Ive never had a problem sealing a bath to tiles before I filled the bath, did a nice neat bead of Silicon all the way around and left it a couple of hours to dry.

Came back, the Silicon had not bonded at all to the tiles and after a bit of meddling I managed to mess some of it up testing it and the whole lot had to come out again (no fun at all)

What have I done wrong? Do I need to use a special porcelain cleaner on the tiles and try again?

or do I need to use the above product AND a sealer on the bath edge part?

All advice appreciated

 

[grumpygrouter]

if you have polished porcelain tile (or are they glazed?) then they need sealing. You may find there is a protective coating on the tiles for transportation, is this their "pre-sealed" state? Before you re-Silicon, clean the area where the sealant will go with an alcohol based solvent and let it dry before siliconing again.

 

[theanalyst]

if you have polished porcelain tile (or are they glazed?) then they need sealing. You may find there is a protective coating on the tiles for transportation, is this their "pre-sealed" state? Before you re-Silicon, clean the area where the sealant will go with an alcohol based solvent and let it dry before siliconing again.

Thanks grumpy grouter

The tile shop said they did not need sealing so I am assuming that they are polished porcelain...

thanks

 

[neilyoung]

Silicon will adhere to either the porcelain or the acrylic sealer; however it is likely that you are experiencing adhesive failure of the wax transit coating to the tile. Let me elaborate Bathroom sealants are heavily extended ( filled with cheap additives) condensation curing RTVs formulators use high boiling point solvents to fill the silicones (Industrial meths for eg) these soften the transit wax, this wax then adheres to the OH groups (adhesive part) in the Silicon and the product loses adhesion. Water will also have the same effect

Solution, clean the tiles with solvent, ensure all edges are perfectly dry. Watch the sealant adhere.
:drool5:

 

[Burnsy]

Silicon will adhere to either the porcelain or the acrylic sealer; however it is likely that you are experiencing adhesive failure of the wax transit coating to the tile. Let me elaborate Bathroom sealants are heavily extended ( filled with cheap additives) condensation curing RTVs formulators use high boiling point solvents to fill the silicones (Industrial meths for eg) these soften the transit wax, this wax then adheres to the OH groups (adhesive part) in the Silicon and the product loses adhesion. Water will also have the same effect

Solution, clean the tiles with solvent, ensure all edges are perfectly dry. Watch the sealant adhere.
:drool5:

I hope they have managed it now after a year :lol:

 

[faithhealer]

Silicon will adhere to either the porcelain or the acrylic sealer; however it is likely that you are experiencing adhesive failure of the wax transit coating to the tile. Let me elaborate Bathroom sealants are heavily extended ( filled with cheap additives) condensation curing RTVs formulators use high boiling point solvents to fill the silicones (Industrial meths for eg) these soften the transit wax, this wax then adheres to the OH groups (adhesive part) in the Silicon and the product loses adhesion. Water will also have the same effect

Solution, clean the tiles with solvent, ensure all edges are perfectly dry. Watch the sealant adhere.
:drool5:

good exlanation neil, hope he's sealed it by now if you check the date

 

[Burnsy]

yeah sorry, good explanation though