Gaps at top of wall, do I fill with grout or silicon?

[TheNibbler]

Hi

My "professional bathroom guy" has "finished" the job. Unfortunately he's left a few gaps in the grout at the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling. There's 2 tiles above the door where there's no grout at all at the top edge of the tile.

Please see images >> http://imgur.com/a/BSyJN

He's been paid, he won't be coming back and to be honest I don't want him back (not happy with him, long story). What I would like to do is finish these small bits myself.

I have an unopened bag of grout left and intended to try and fill the gaps but a mate has said I should use silicon for the top so now I don't know what to do....

1. Fill in gaps with grout and leave it.

2. Fill in gaps with grout and then try and add a bead of silicon all the way round the top. Might not be any space for the silicon to sit properly..i.e. no groove.

3. Try and scrape out a bit of grout at the top (grout is fully hardened now) to make a groove and then fill it with silicon.

If I could pick the brains of you fine gentlemen I'd be most grateful.

Cheers
Simon

 

[Burnerman]

Its really up to you Simon - its not a splash area so you can use either.
Maybe the neatest would be a bead of white silicone - this sticks to almost anything so you don't need a groove or anything for it to sit in.
The neatest way is to use two parallel lengths of masking tape 6mm either side of where you want to seal.....the silicone is applied and smoothed with a finger. Removing the tape immediately after gives a good edge finish.
By all means fill up the spaces with grout if you want, and some people like a timber bead to finish the wall to ceiling joint.
John

 

[TheNibbler]

Thanks John

I like the idea of using masking tape to get a good line of silicon, good idea that.

One thing I forgot to mention, I still need to paint the bathroom ceiling with bathroom paint (at the moment its just emulsion). With that in mind do you think its best to paint the ceiling and do the silicon bead afterwards?

Yeah I was thinking of adding some beading or coving to cover up the dodgyness of the join but someone told me that looks kinda naff in a bathroom and nobody does that anymore.

 

[Burnerman]

Yep, get the ceiling sorted Simon, and then on with the silicone.
If the paint is fresh, take the tape off immediately afterwards so the paint stays put!
As for the beading, purely a personal choice but it does have its uses if any gaps are too large for silicone, or uneven.
John