Silicone sealant

[angedup]

Sealant - what a total nightmare. The tiling is easy but using silicone sealant to finish off lets me down every time.

I squeeze it out through the gun in an uneven blobby line, it continues to ooze out the nozzle all over everything while I am desperately trying to loosen the pressure of the gun on the bottle whilst catching the escaping sealant with blobs of quickly grabbed loo roll. Then starts the task of smoothing it - wet finger currently the prefered method but still leaves a lot to be desired. Eventually the increasing amount of silicone on my finger makes me realise none is left on the join. Then there are the several days following of finding sealant glued randomly to most surfaces in the bathroom and various other body parts. This problem is not unique to my little tiling splashbacks above the basins project but also happens if I redo the shower tray, bath etc.

What is the secret??
My sealant looks unprofessional and I look ridiculous during the process.

 

[david campbell]

are you cutting the nozzle to far back,it sound like you are putting to much into the joint just a thin line of about 2mm should do,you should wipe the excess of your finger often,

 

[faithhealer]

Try Cornertape, check out the sponsors list, you will still get a bit messy but once you pull the tape off you will be impressed.

 

[heavytrevy]

Are u using a good gun?
If u want perfect control over ur silicon a dripless contractor style gun is what u need. a 14:1 ratio will ensure smooth application .
Finish the silicon with a spray of detergent and a paddlepop stick to smooth and shape it .

Trev

 

[dagger]

i personally beleive that siliconing is an art form, it took me years to get to the standard i am today, i no longer tape off (time consuming), i no longer use soapy water (can stop silicone sticking) and i think my results are fantastic, but it is all in the practice.

after trying everyway imaginable my method suits me!

look at the perimiter and corners of this room i did:

second to practice, practice, practice i would chose "CORNERTAPE".

 

[dagger]

up close:

 

[angedup]

hadn't thought of taping. good idea, now why didn't I think of that?

 

[doug boardley]

hadn't thought of taping. good idea, now why didn't I think of that?

sometimes we just don't see the obvious:mad2::lol:

 

[Olz]

Get yourself some cornertape mate,

http://www.cornertape.co.uk

 

[Sean fsy]

siliconing is only as good in the fit of the tiles or other fittings. the better the fitting the better results you will get, what im saying is if you leave to big gaps etc its always gonna be hard to cover up( im not saying your fitting is poor, i mean in general)