Tiling round a bath question

[kevin_robson]

I've just tiled around a new bath, which will have a shower above it.
I'm going to seal around the bath between the bath and the tiles, so it is waterproof for the shower.

The trouble is I have been left with quite big gaps to fill in places. A couple of the tiles are sitting about 5mm up off the edge of the bath, but the edge of the bath is also quite a way out off the tile too due the the shape of the curvature of the bath top, which makes the gap seem even bigger.

I hope this makes sense.

Basically, is 5mm high by 5mm out too big a gap to seal with bathroom sealent, or should my tiles actually touch the bath edge? I was told to leave a few mm gap, but it looks a big gap to fill to me.

Would I be better off filling the gap with something else (i.e. grout?) and then putting the sealant on top of the grout.

Hope this makes sense - its a bit difficult to describe without pictures.

Thanks

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Kevin:

The reason why that happened is probably because you started your bottom row of tiles sitting right on the tub itself.

It's better to fasten straight pieces of wood molding to the walls around the tub (and I use double sided mounting tape to do that) so the bottom row of tiles rest on that wood molding. Set all the tiles above the wood molding, then remove the wood molding and cut the bottom row of tiles to fit DOWN TO the surface of the tub.

Phone around to the Building Materials wholesalers, hardware store and look under "Caulking" in your phone directory and see if you can find "foam backer rod" for sale anywhere.

Foam backer rod is a foam rod that comes in various diameters (from 1/4 inch to over 1 inch in diameter in 1/8 inch increments. The stuff is super cheap, so most wholesalers will just give you some off a roll, but they won't give you any more the next time if you don't make it worth their while, so tip the guy a bit just to show your appreciation. Foam backer rod is pressed into joints and crevices that are meant to be caulked both so that:

a) you use less caulk, and

b) so that it's much easier to remove and replace that caulk. The idea is that if you have something very easy to cut through behind the caulk, you only have to cut through a small amount of caulk to remove it, rather than dig out all the caulk to the depth of the joint.

Typically, you use the diameter of foam backer rod that is 50 percent larger than the gap you want to caulk. So, if the gap is 1/2 inch wide, you'd use 3/4 inch diameter foam backer rod.

Any caulking contractor listed in your phone directory will probably just give you the amount of foam backer rod you need if you toss a few coins his way.

PS:
Who ever told you to leave "a few mm gap" probably was under the influence of a mood altering substance at the time. I typically try to leave about a 1 mm gap. In the tiling supply places you can buy small plastic wedges to fit between the tub surface and the cut bottom edge of the tile, and about 1 mm is about the gap you'd want to leave.

 

[kevin_robson]

Thanks for the help.
I will have a look around for the stuff you suggest. I'd pretty much worked out I'd have to fill the gap with something, so will hopefully get the correct stuff.

I've since had a look to see if I could get a slither of tile down there, but that wont fit. I suppose thats good in some respects, as at least my gap musn't be huge. The other option is to try to fill the gap with grout, and then put sealent on top of that, but I'm assuming I would need something more flexible, as you suggest?

Anyway, thanks again. I'll try to pack it and put as little sealant as possible over it.

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

No, don't try to put as little sealant as possible. What you want to do is have an attractive bead of silicon caulk between tub and tile.

So, in your case, I'd use masking tape (or whatever kind of tape you already have) and apply that just along the bottom edge of the tile the same distance above the tub all around the enclosure. Ditto for the tub, put some tape down same distance from the front edge of the tile (as projected down onto the top surface of the tub).

So, in this case, for most of the tiles the silicon will be sticking to the front of the tile face, but toward the problem area, the silicon will be just covering the bottom of the tile face and sticking primarily to the bottom edge of the tile.

Then:

1. Just put down a sloppy bead of mildew resistant silicon caulk,

2. Smear it around with a dry finger so you more or less have a uniform amount of caulk all around the enclosure,

3. Wipe any silicon caulk off your finger and pull the tape off

4. Now, dip a finger in a 50/50 solution of liquid dish washing detergent and water, and use that wet finger to smooth the joint out.

The soap solution will keep the silicon from sticking to your finger, but as you wipe the silicon joint with that soapy finger, the soap solution wipes off onto the silicon and surrounding surfaces. So, you have to dip your finger often, and don't wipe more than 8 to 10 inches before re-dipping in the soap solution. Once you have a soap film over the whole silicon bead, you can wipe up and down that bead without dipping since your finger will be sliding over a soap film.

That's how to get an attractive caulking job around a tub with silicon caulk.

 

[kevin_robson]

Thanks again. I've been away for a few days hence the delay.
Had a look around at my local DIY superstores in the UK and can't find any foam backer rod, and they haven't even heard of it.
Will try the builders yards tomorrow.

In the meanwhile is there anything else it may be called? Or are there any people in the UK that could point me in the direction of some place that sells it?

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Kevin:

Open your phone directory to Caulking Contractors and see if there's any listed there. If not, phone around to find out who you'd hire to do the caulking on a building (perhaps painters do that in England).

Ask the guy: "High quality caulk costs more than a few pennies for a 300 ml tube, right?"

And he responds: "Dam right. Good quality caulk is expensive."

So now you ask: "So, what happens if you have a big deep crevice that needs to be caulked. You could fill up that whole big deep crack with expensive caulk, or you could pack in some cheap soft foam rod into the crack and then just apply a shallow bead of caulk over that inexpensive foam, to achieve just as good a caulking job, but your material costs on that job would be MUCH less, meaning you'd make more of a profit."

To which he will either reply:

"Now, why didn't I think of that?", or

"That's what we do."

If he replies in the latter, then you ask: "Can you show me the stuff you use?"

Trust me. If it makes sense to you to fill a big crack with cheap foam so that you use LESS expensive caulk, then all the pros in your area are already doing that.

 

[kevin_robson]

Thanks Again.
Unfortunatly I cant find any reference to Caulking in our Yellow Pages - the main one.
I'll try some builders yards today and see if thye have anything.

Anyone in the UK know if people use this, and if so what for?

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Kevin:

This company sells foam backer rod and even has a graphic image of how it's used on their web site:
http://www.forsite.co.uk/miers_7.html

This company claims to sell
"FOAM BACKER ROD FOR USE WITH JOINT SEALANTS"
http://www.bcsproducts.co.uk/frames/floorslab4.html

This one too:
http://www.fendersteel.co.uk/frames/fendercon4.html

If these people won't give or sell you only a few feet of the stuff, they would certainly know who they sell it to, and that company will surely sell or give you a few feet of it.

The places that make and install windows will do a lot of caulking, so the "Installations Manager" at any window store will know where you can buy it.

It might also be referred to as "caulk saver cord".

If you phone around to the places listed under "Building & Construction Materials, Wholesale" you're likely to have better luck.

Foam backer rod costs half of nothing, so most places will just give you the few feet you need rather than put through an invoice for a halfpence (or whatever, not familiar with British money) which is just going to raise questions and have people making wisecracks about the guy that sold it. So, throw a tip into the company's coffee fund or leave it on their counter top just to thank the guy for going to all the trouble of lifting his heavy posterior out of his chair and walking all the way to the back of the warehouse where they keep it and all the way back again just to get some for you. That way you can go back for more if you need it.

 

[kevin_robson]

Thanks Again.
Unfortunatly you beat me to it - posting a reply that is. I managed to track some down after work last night from a specialist builders place.
Cost me a couple of quid and seems to fit nicely into the gap. Will install it properly tonight hopefully.
Thanks again for your help and advice.