Advice on replacing silicone around bath and large gaps

[diyhelpmeplease]

Hi there
While replacing the bath panel, I have decided it is a good time to attempt to redo the silicone around the bath as there are a few black mouldy looking areas and around the taps is yellow and black.

I have removed the old silicone as best I can using a stanley knife, a credit card and some plastic tool.

I notice there is quite a lot of variation in the gap below the tiles to the bath.

So I am seeking advice on how best to go about applying the new silicone.

I have bought DOW 785N Low Modulus Neutral white silicone.

Is it a case of just pumping more silicone into the larger gaps. The gap on the right is about 5mm tall.

I had read about some foam rods you can push into gaps but I have not seen them as small as this.

Also there are dark spots on the grout at the bottom of the verticals - can this be cleaned with some sort of grout cleaner or some bicarbonate of soda mixture? Or is it best to not mess with this or I could have a whole new grouting job on my hands?

One more question, the silicone around the taps (double tap with shower hose) was very yellowy with dark areas. I was thinking this must be due to the heat of the water going through the tap. I would be reluctant to now put silicone back here again as I would not like any leakage. I assume it has some sort of rubber seal of its own but I have no idea how long that has been there or if it is working still.

 

[blup]

I use Dow 785+. Scrape off the old sealant and thicken and dry the area, remove the taps if you. Any easily seal behind them. Practice on an off cut of ply or mdf fixed at right angles with gaps built in. Smooth immediately after application with a wet finger, a jar of warm water with a little w/up liquid helps . Cutting the sealant nozzle at an angle will help control the flow and angle of attack.

 

[Madrab]

My trick with gaps like that, as long as they don't exceed like 15mm, is fill the gap with silicone and then using a card or silicone former and scrape it flat to the tile then let it set for an hour, then come back and do the external fillet.

Another idea before the sealant is to blast the gaps/edges with a hot hairdryer to make sure there isn't any moisture left and then use an alcohol like IPA to clean the area before silicone.

 

[diyhelpmeplease]

Thanks for the advice. All done now. I can't say that was enjoyable. Not sure if I had a bad gun or just crap skills but the silicone was coming out like little maggots. I cut the top again to make the hole larger (at an angle of 45 degrees) which did help somewhat but it felt like it needed a lot of squeezing for a tiny amount of silicone.

The warm soapy water helped though after doing this, I found a few times I needed to add more silicone so tried to pat it dry with blue paper roll before doing so. I wish I had explored filling the gaps more as some areas felt like a thirsty dog and guzzled up every bit I pumped in.