Bath seal cracks

[Blunda]

Hello

Im sure I know the answer to this already but was hoping that there may be an alternative?

basically I have just installed a new shower bath (which has taken long enough already) and I notice when standing in the bath there are cracks in the seal around the edge. I have had to re-seal a bath before and I really cant face it this time! was just wondering if there was any alternative to fixing the seal?

Whats more, when sealing the bath I filled it with water so this wouldn't happen but it doesn't seem to have worked. Does the kind/make of sealant you use make any difference?

EDIT: I have done some research and have found out about TeleSeal10 which has had good reviews. Has anyone used this? would anyone recomnend it?

 

[ianniann]

Did you leave the bath filled for at least 24 hours while the sealant cured? It seems that the sealant wasn't fully cured with the bath in the "down" position or it would squash when the bath was empty but not pull away when it was full. Although it might still leak if the sealant didn't adhere to the bath.

Some sealants stick to plastic (?) better than others. I'm guessing it has pulled away from the bath rather than the tiles? Which type did you use? How wide is the gap you filled? And how deep?

There isn't really an alternative to stripping it out and doing it again. Any attempt at repairing onto the existing sealant will be a disaster.

 

[seco services]

did you support the bath properly when installed otherwise your banging your head on the wall.

 

[Blunda]

Looks to me like the seal has cracked in the middle.

the gaps range from a couple of mm to about a centameter. seems there are cracks in both size gaps.

im not sure what is meant by proper support? there are batons on the wall to support the bath but I guess its not flush against the bath rim.

The sealant I used is called 151 bathroom and kitchen sealant which was very cheap so Im guessing this is the reason for the cracking?

I notice Unibond does a 2hr selant, would this be anygood? also I have done a bit of research and found out about teleseal10: http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/teleseal10.htm
Has anyone used this? would you recomend it?

 

[wingcoax]

You are really banging your head with that stuff. Use a quality sealant or it will happen again. As the old saying goes "for a ha'porth of tar a ship was lost"

 

[Blunda]

do you mean the unibond 2hr stuff and the teleseal10 are useless aswell? what would you recomend?

 

[ianniann]

Eek! The 151 stuff is useless. They shouldn't be allowed to sell it.

Unibond should be OK. I don't use it because it tends to be very expensive.

I like Everbuild. Some very good, some cheaper, but at least there's always one for the job you need to do. They do a 500 Bath and Sanitary sealant which should do the job. Or if you have problems with mildew then they do a Forever White which should stay white longer.

 

[ianniann]

The Teleseal looks like an expensive fiddly way to let you use cheap sealant. I can't see the point. Use the right sealant and use it properly, you'll be OK for many years.

 

[seco services]

dow corning 785 is one of the best.