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Hello, I am trying to seal a very heavy old iron bath in a (1960s) flat. Currently, there is a sizeable gap between the bath edge and the first course of tiles which has been bridged with quadrant tiles. It was leaking which I put down to old grout, mould and deteriorated sealant. So I jumped in and ripped the quadrant tiles out (image before, sorry for the shaky hands, it was on a gopro), cleaned them up and reinstalled them by essentially sticking them in place with grout then sealing once dry (image after).
I'm sure this will be of no surprise to most, but it is now leaking again, I used cheap sealant and it is cracked after 3 days and is now leaking more than before. It wasn't the neatest job but was my first...

My question is, after I take them all off again and clean them up, what should I use to stick them in place? Ie forget the grout and just use trade sealant? or as the gap is quite large, can I infill behind the quadrant tiles before with say grout or some sort of filler, then stick the tiles on over the top with sealant?

I would naturally like to make this as water tight for as long as possible.

Many thanks,

Laurence

As you have discovered grout isn't waterproof.

Your best bet is to remove the quadrant tiling, squirt a shed load of silicone sealant between the bath and the wall (Making sure you get a continuous unbroken bead) tool off as necessary.

Leave that over night to cure.

Re-do the quadrant ..in this case I would suggest using silicone again as an adhesive/ sealant..(I wouldn't always)...

Buy a decent quality sealant. Dow corning for instance. You'll need 3/4 tubes to be on the safe side..

And if you don't have one already a decent sealant gun.

Cheers, I bought Dow Corning 785 from the local plumbing place. After several hours of cleaning the old stuff back (the old/newly applied grout came off depressingly easily...) I did what you said. Although the gap was far too large for some sections and the stuff just dropped through onto the floor underneath the bath, there was no way I could fill it with the 785. I managed the parts that will get the direct water spray though.

I re stuck the quadrant this morning after it had cured and its not the cleanest best looking job but hopefully it will seal well.... at the very least Iv had a good few hours chasing the purple dragon with the fumes from this stuff....!

Any advice on the best way to clean off the fine coat of 785 that has been left over around the edge of the bath from my messy work (and on my tools)? Any solvents that will get it off? I have access to pretty much anything.

Cheers

If you do it a next time try putting a strip of masking tape on bath edge where you are sealing. To get it of bath you could try with a sharp blade to get a decent edge on top of bath then scrape rest off.

Basics first people

Is there any downwards movement of the bath when you get in it or fill it with water? You should always fill the bath to the overflow before carrying out any siliconing or if it drops when full it will just tear

moderator6 wrote:Basics first people

Is there any downwards movement of the bath when you get in it or fill it with water? You should always fill the bath to the overflow before carrying out any siliconing or if it drops when full it will just tear

I would have pointed this out if it was say an Acrylic bath.

As it's made of Iron I doubt it'll be moving very far..

Until you add 140 kilos of water and 15 stone of person (no offense OP)

Ha ha, no offence taken - I did in fact fill it up with water when I resealed the tiles. Although, I would be very surprised if it moved at all the thing is like a tank. Thanks for the advice, I have tested it this morning and with the help of my camera under the bath through the tiny access hole, can confirm it is no longer leaking.

The original cheapo sealant did not ever set, there are still clumps of wet stuff in the rubbish bag. One of those lessons in life to learn methinks!