Best way to fit and seal around a bath

[Tonycapone]

I have searched through all the various questions and replies regarding the best way to seal around a bath. It would appear that conventional wisdom for the right way to do this is as follows:

Step 1 - Tile wall to 1 tile depth above the bath
Step 2 - Fit bath and, optional, build timber frame to hold it in position.
Step 3 - Fill bath and allow it to settle (presumably only if no timber frame?)
Step 3 - Complete the tiling and seal as appropriate.

So far so good. However, it is the best way to seal that is most debated. Having looked at all the options, I think that the Teleseal method seems to me to be the most sensible solution of all, as it allows quite a bit of bath movement and should be completely watertight.

Am I right in the steps above and has anybody had experience of using Teleseal10?

 

[bengasman]

Why would you need a lot of movement of the bath? A decent quality bath bends very little, and the floor should be rigid enough to stay where it is.

 

[Tonycapone]

If that is the case, there is a heck of a lot of wasted debate about the issue on this forum.
What constitutes a "decent" bath. All the ones I've looked at are 5mm plastic, which does flex a little and when filled with hot water, I presume will expand to some extent?
My floor is suspended, wooden, and one corner of the bath will be resting on an area between the joists, although the load will be spread by laying some wood down first.
Obviously I don't want movement but I suspect that there will be some, if only small. I do not want a repeat of my current situation where the flooring has all rotted due to leakage around the bath from the shower.

 

[bengasman]

Have you completely removed all the damaged wood and replaced it with new, checked that the joists are firmly seated in the wall without allowing any movement, and floorboards screwed tight to the joists?
Plastic comes in as many variations as there are colours, but 5 mm sounds ok.

 

[JohnD]

I'm no expert, but I like those plastic seal strips with a rubbery fin that presses down onto the bath.

The ones you tile over look neater than the ones you stick on.

edited: Oh, I see teleseal is one of those

 

[Tonycapone]

Thanks, Bengasman, all that has yet to be done - see my posting in the Building forum.
JohnD - I don't think the ones you are talking about would be as good as teleseal. One, inverted, "L" shaped part of the Teleseal adheres to the wall, on top of (or under) the tiles. The other "L"shaped piece attaches to the bath. When you put the two "L"'s together, they can rub up and down about 10mm without coming apart. Over the top of these is clipped a semi-circular piece which directs the water away from the wall and onto the bath. The whole system allows for a watertight seal and up to 10mm of bath movement, without the normal strain put on, say, flexible sealant or any of those plastic sealant strips.

 

[bengasman]

In that case, put the ply on the floorboards, use lots of short, fat screws to screw it down and simply stick the bath on top.
Seal with quality mouldproof silicone and Bob's your uncle. Nothing beats silicone when it comes to sealing, and it has plenty give if the bath is stable. Stay away from the no-name, no-frills, and own-brand diy stuff, it is crap.