Colin Wilson wrote:
Hm. That seems to require me to run a silicone bead first, it'll still
be horrid :-( what on earth would I do with the excess half a tube of
silicone that would inevitably be spread all over the floor, wood, ceramics?


Masking tape either side of where you want it to be, before you run
the bead :-}

To add to your reply...

The only problem you could have with this answer is that you do not keep
an even gap around and between what the item is and the flooring. For
the shower, get laid down on the floor so that you are at eye level to
the side of the shower base and stick the masking tape at the start and
then pull off the roll as much as you need to cover the length of the
unit. Keeping the tape taught, keep an eye on the depth of seal that you
have decided on, slowly bring the tape closer and push it into contact
to the shower base in stages from where you started from. When you have
reached the end, pull the tape up and wrap it around the corner and
start again for the next run the same as above, starting from what I
assume will be a wall.

Now get on your hands and knees and do the same for the vinyl floor.

Ah! you ask, my shower has round corners and I don't have round corner
tape. No problem. Run the tape along the straight edge so as to overlap
the base and then use short lengths to make up the curve. If you use
enough small strips, you will eventually end up with a lot of straight
edges that very nearly is a curve.

Put the sealant along the two tapes and don't worry about putting too
much down, the excess will end up on the tape. Wipe with either your
finger, or one of the tools that have been recommended. Ensure that
there are no thin bits of seal and that you can't see the tape edges
that are adjacent to the unit. Too little force with the finger may
result in and edge forming after the next step. Having said that, you
would be hard pressed to see it.

Now comes the tricky/messy bit...

Removing the tape. Do this just after you are satisfied that the seal is
just a little wider/higher than the tape gap. Get a large bin liner
ready and lay it flat on the floor. Start to lift the tape from the end
where you stopped taping and it should come up in one length at a time
and not start to lift the next section of tape and drop it on the bin
bag by handling the tape by the clean edge, using just one hand. Wipe
your hands of any sealant after each removal. You should end up with a
perfect seal.

Dave