On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 09:16:28 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



I know the feeling! I hate applying a silicone bead around a bath or
worktop, as it takes a knack that only comes with practice. That
practice, however, is probably something that only a plumber or
kitchen refurbisher would acquire, since most DIYers only have the one
bath or worktop to *uc* up.

I don't have occasion to do this that often, but have found a few
things that help.

- Surfaces and hands scrupulously clean before starting.

- A pot of water with a little adding washing up liquid.

- Some clean rags and some meths for clean ups

- A decent mastic gun. The £3 from the DIY store are OK to a point,
but sometimes the mechanism jams a little and results in unevenness.
I bought a better one in France for about €20 but have since seen them
here as well. They are pretty obvious because the mechanisms are
much better. Nowadays I also have one that works with air from a
compressor. These cost about £10 from Axminster and elsewhere and
work really well. You can regulate the flow well and it is
contnuous once you squeeze the trigger, so as long as you move across
the work smoothly you get a nice even bead. Of course you do need
compressed air....

- Don't try to overdo the amount of gap filling for one hit. It is
much better to build in layers.

- Once the bead is in place, make sure that you position yourself so
that you can run your finger along the entire bead without stopping or
getting into an awkward position if at all possible

- Wet the finger in the pot of water and run it quite lightly, in one
movement over the entire length of the bead. Lightness of touch is
one important part of all this. You can remoisten the finger and
run it over with an even lighter touch again.

- Remove any silicon that accumulates (it shouldn't) on the finger.

- Don't muck about with the silicone for too long. It skins very
rapidly and then further attention to it will make a mess.

- If you get it wrong, wipe it all off, clean with meths and do it
again

- Buy twice the amount of sealer that you think you will need and
return the unused tubes for refund.

- Forget about application tools and tape.


Using these methods I get pretty good results most times on the first
attempt. The most important I've found is the quick light touch.




I have tried everything I can to facilitate the application of an even
bead without bumps or pits. I've applied clean-edge masking tape (the
blue stuff) on both sides of the bead. I've tried various backs of
spoons, and my finger, wetted, to smooth and shape the bead after
application and before curing starts. But it still remains a very
messy, imprecise, hit and miss job that I try to avoid for as long as
possible.

I, too, tried the easy way out with the plastic sealing strip last
time I went round my bath. It came on a roll from Focus DIY and was
£5.99 for the 15 mm wide one. It was by Polycell, I seem to recall.
It's been in place for four months but is already starting to lift
away in places, despite rigorous cleansing of the surfaces before
applying it, including wiping with meths. It is a poor alternative to
pristine applied silicone beading, though.

I don't know what the secret is. If anyone has any tips I'd be pleased
to hear them, too. But applying silicone remains one of my worst
nightmares in DIY. I would rather build my own sofa than applying one
single bead of silicone!

MM



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl