Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu

[1] remove all old silicone.

[2] apply thin bead of new silicone along junction to be sealed

[3] run wet finger or similar shaped tool along bead of new silicone
pushing excess ahead of tool.

Now what am I doing wrong? The excess builds up in front of my finger
until there is too much and it then deposits either side of the bead
like a little snow drift!

I assume that this means that there is too much silicone laid down in
the first place but if I don't put enough down I get gaps in the
smoothed bead.

All this is even worse were I'm sealing the side panels into the wall
fixings because I'm trying to seal against only a 1.5mm edge where two
panels meet rather than into a 90 deg corner.

TIA

Richard

--


Reply to RJSavage at Bigfoot dot com

In article ,
Richard Savage wrote:
All this is even worse were I'm sealing the side panels into the wall
fixings because I'm trying to seal against only a 1.5mm edge where two
panels meet rather than into a 90 deg corner.

I use masking tape either side of the fillet I want to achieve. Then the
'snow drift' can be removed easily - provided you're reasonably careful
with the amount you use.

--
*Income tax service - We‘ve got what it takes to take what you've got.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Richard Savage" wrote in message
...
Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu

[1] remove all old silicone.

[2] apply thin bead of new silicone along junction to be sealed

[3] run wet finger or similar shaped tool along bead of new silicone
pushing excess ahead of tool.

Now what am I doing wrong? The excess builds up in front of my finger
until there is too much and it then deposits either side of the bead like
a little snow drift!

I assume that this means that there is too much silicone laid down in the
first place but if I don't put enough down I get gaps in the smoothed
bead.

All this is even worse were I'm sealing the side panels into the wall
fixings because I'm trying to seal against only a 1.5mm edge where two
panels meet rather than into a 90 deg corner.

TIA

Richard

Always apply the silicone ahead of the tube, rather than drag the nozzle,
this fills better so you need to apply less. Try to get the nozzle cut to
the right width and shape so that no extra smoothing is necessary.
But if you need to smooth try the following:
put masking tape either side of the line, then after smoothing lift away
the tape leaving a clean straight edge.

mrcheerful

Thanks,

Feeding ahead rather than dragging sounds intriguing. I've never had
much (any) success with masking tape but I could give it another go.

BTW did you know that Vinegar removes silcone fairly easily from hands!

I'm almost tempted to dismantle the shower enclosure and sit it on a
bead of silcone. I realise that that might make it impossible to remove
from the tray but . . . .


Cheers Richard

--


Reply to RJSavage at Bigfoot dot com

"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
...

"Richard Savage" wrote in message
...
Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu

[1] remove all old silicone.

[2] apply thin bead of new silicone along junction to be sealed

[3] run wet finger or similar shaped tool along bead of new silicone
pushing excess ahead of tool.

Now what am I doing wrong? The excess builds up in front of my finger
until there is too much and it then deposits either side of the bead
like
a little snow drift!

I find it much easier to "pull" my finger along the bead, rather than "push"
it

I assume that this means that there is too much silicone laid down in
the
first place but if I don't put enough down I get gaps in the smoothed
bead.

Yes - you need to get the balance right and judge how much silicone to apply
in the first place; it may mean varying the bead thickness according to the
size of the gap to be filled as you move along the interface

Always apply the silicone ahead of the tube, rather than drag the nozzle,
this fills better so you need to apply less.

Are you saying that as you apply the bead, you are moving the nozzle away
from you, ie over the top of the newly-injected bead? Sounds much more
difficult; you can't see the size of bead you've just laid down...

Try to get the nozzle cut to
the right width and shape so that no extra smoothing is necessary.

Yes, the correct nozzle size helps enormously, but I disgree about not
smoothing over the bead - you should always do so as the action of smoothing
helps to ensure the silicon is properly bonded to the substrate, and there
are no tiny gaps which could allow water penetration.

David

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Always apply the silicone ahead of the tube, rather than drag the nozzle,
this fills better so you need to apply less.


Are you saying that as you apply the bead, you are moving the nozzle away
from you, ie over the top of the newly-injected bead? Sounds much more
difficult; you can't see the size of bead you've just laid down...

If the nozzle is the correct width and the application speed is correct then
there is no problem, plus the silicone gets pressed in well as the nozzle
passes over it, this also shapes the bead. This is really good when you get
the hang of it and extremely satisfying!!

mrcheerful

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 14:12:38 GMT, Lobster wrote:

... you need to get the balance right and judge how much silicone
to apply in the first place; it may mean varying the bead thickness
according to the size of the gap to be filled as you move along the
interface

And taking into account how deep the gap is, the amount put down does
need to vary along the length of any normal sealing operation. Rarely
are the two edges at a uniform distance and depth.

Always apply the silicone ahead of the tube, rather than drag the
nozzle, this fills better so you need to apply less.

Are you saying that as you apply the bead, you are moving the nozzle
away from you, ie over the top of the newly-injected bead?

Thats how I read it.

Sounds much more difficult; you can't see the size of bead you've
just laid down...

With a correctly sized nozzle it forms just the right sized bead for a
quick smooth over later. As you are injecting the silicon into the gap
watch the *little* bulge that builds in front of the nozzle, you want
to try and keep this a constant size that ensures that the gap is
filled but not to excess. It's also important to do each run in one
constant an operation as possible pauseing produces a blip, it can be
tricky if one or both of the edges aren't nice and smooth though.

fixed pitch font

| | -- Direction
Nozzle -- | |
| /
| /\
| / \ -- Bulge
|/ |
------------

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In message , Lobster
writes
I assume that this means that there is too much silicone laid down in
the
first place but if I don't put enough down I get gaps in the smoothed
bead.

Yes - you need to get the balance right and judge how much silicone to apply
in the first place; it may mean varying the bead thickness according to the
size of the gap to be filled as you move along the interface

Or do it in two passes, one to fill the gaps and holes, and the second
to give a nice finished profile

--
geoff

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 12:20:51 +0100, Richard Savage wrote:

Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu

[1] remove all old silicone.

[2] apply thin bead of new silicone along junction to be sealed

[3] run wet finger or similar shaped tool along bead of new silicone
pushing excess ahead of tool.

Now what am I doing wrong? The excess builds up in front of my finger
until there is too much and it then deposits either side of the bead
like a little snow drift!

I assume that this means that there is too much silicone laid down in
the first place but if I don't put enough down I get gaps in the
smoothed bead.

All this is even worse were I'm sealing the side panels into the wall
fixings because I'm trying to seal against only a 1.5mm edge where two
panels meet rather than into a 90 deg corner.

TIA

Richard

There are several things here.

If the gap is fairly large, put in the sealant in layers, letting it
partly cure in between each.

When you get to the last one, don't use a tool, use your finger, and
importantly pull along the silicone bead, don't push.

Get a pot of water to which you have added a small squirt of washing
up liquid.

Dip your finger in it and run it *lightly* along the bead in a
continuous motion.

Have a rag ready and if there is any sealer on it, wipe it off and use
another moistened finger.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall displayed the English talent for understatement :-)


Get a pot of water to which you have added a small squirt of washing up
liquid.

Dip your finger in it and run it *lightly* along the bead in a
continuous motion.


It works even better if you add a *large* squirt of washing up liquid
(even up to 50/50), and thoroughly *soak* your finger in it.

I've had very good results with masking tape, laid down carefully in a
double run. It avoids the need to lay down an absolutely perfect bead
without repetition, hesitation or deviation - which most people find
very hard to do.

Simply lay down a little more sealant than it's going to need, and then
use your finger-end to squeeze the bead down to a constant size. The
excess comes off onto the masking tape and your finger. If your finger
is well pickled in the liquid, the sealant won't stick and can easily be
flicked off .

More details of this method are in the FAQ.


--
Ian White
Abingdon, England

In article , says...
Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu



All previous replies are excellent advice, but to be a real expert you
must wear the sweater she gave you for your birthday and wipe your hands
on it every 2 minutes.

--
Ziggur

"S'ils te mordent, mords-les"

On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 11:09:27 +0100, Ziggur wrote:

In article , says...
Trying to re-silicone my shower enclosu



All previous replies are excellent advice, but to be a real expert you
must wear the sweater she gave you for your birthday and wipe your hands
on it every 2 minutes.

Nice One LOL