Silicon coming away

[Ric28]

Hi all
I did a job about 6 months ago where I replaced the old leaking Silicon around a bath. I have just been called back because it has come away from the bath and is leaking again at the shower end and I am not quite sure why.
When I did it originally, as usual I got rid of every trace of old Silicon, cleaned the tiles and bath rim, wiping any grease etc away with meths, let it dry and filled the bath three quarters full before siliconing with Bal Microseal.
The only possible reason I can think of is that because there were some fairly wide gaps between the tiles and bath, the Silicon will probably have come into contact with the wall beneath the tiles which could still have been damp.
Could this have travelled along the Silicon and broken the seal with the bath? If that is what has happened, presumably I will have to ensure the wall is completely dry before doing it again which could take a while even with a dehumidifier or stick some kind of trim on instead which will look a bit naff.
As it is the only bathroom, the customer wants to use his shower as soon as possible.
Any suggestions please?
Thanks
Richard

 

[jay]

Pics might help ,could be water behind is it the tap wall

 

[kilty55]

is there any movement in the bath/tray at all?

 

[DHTiling]

Also ask customer cleaning regime... chemicals can eat at the Silicon..

 

[ianflem]

Hi Richard,

I had the same problem with a customers bath with shower over,Found out bath was not fixed to any surrounding walls,Just Silicon sealed & legs were sitting on T&G floor boards causing a fair bit of movement.. Water getting behind..hence failure of Silicon...Has been ok for past 4 months since bath has been seated correctly.

 

[Ric28]

No pics at moment I'm afraid but it is along the side of bath, not the tap end. Took out the Silicon on Friday, going back tomorrow to see how damp the wall is. Will also check to see if there is any movement.
If there is no movement, could it possibly have been caused by the damp wall transferring on to the Silicon in which case it is still wet, should I wait till it is completely dry before re sealing?

 

[Ric28]

Thanks Dave, I will check on cleaning regime also

 

[nybor62]

take the bath panel of if you can , you should be able to adjust bath height to make joint smaller, check bath secured

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

when sillconing round bath fill with water then sillcone bath tell client to empty after 24 hours when bath is full water plus you it sinks slitley it can then wieght around 300kg this up and down motion once or twice a day will wear the sillcone .

 

[Mike]

it sounds like you've put the bath against the tiles. you should have fitted the bath first and then tiled so that the tiles overlap the bath and create a better seal

 

[Ric28]

Thanks for the suggestion nybor62, i'll see how possible that is going to be and will check on how sucure the bath is.

 

[Mike]

is the bath against the wall or against the tiles?

 

[Ric28]

Absolutely Mike, but I didn't do the tiling. That was done a while ago by I don't know who. I was just called in to re seal it when it started leaking

 

[Mike]

i was called to do the same recently too, for my brothers father in law. i removed the old silicon and redone it to the best i could and told him if it fails now call the so called tiler back. he's a retired electrician :mad2:

 

[Ric28]

The bath is about 10mm away from the wall an the first row of tiles is about 2mm above bath edge so there is between 2mm and 4mm gap in places. The gap is not the real problem, that can be filled. The problem is the damp wall below the tiles and could this be the problem if the Silicon is in contact with it?

 

[Ric28]

Not sure what the original so called tiler actually was but yeah I think I may have to do it again after checking all of the things that you guys have suggested and hope for the best.

 

[Mike]

the bath should be tight up against the wall and tiled down to the bath leaving a 2mm gap for silicon.

 

[hillhead]

If the bath has been put against the tiled wall that's wrong as said.
What about a tiled ledge running the length, sealed below and the two edges on top?
would have to be small though.

 

[Ric28]

Thanks Hillhead, that's a possibility.
Thanks to everyone who has replied to me and for you suggestions. Am going to get an early night and not worry about it any more until I get over there again in the morning.
Cheers all

 

[kilty55]

there shd be no 10mm gap between bath and wall,you say there is also a damp wall? i would suspect those 2 things to be your issue....

i would also imagine movement if the bath is not fixed solid to the wall

 

[jay]

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