How do I put sealant around the bath edges which are not flush to the wall?

Question

My bath does not sit flush against the wall as this is an older version. I have bought a plastic edging strip and I need to put 2 lengths of sealant, 1 on the bath and 1 on the wall. Seems very awkward. Do I put strip down first and then sealant on top or the other way around? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You could go to a lumber yard and purchase plastic trim such as corner round to bridge the gap. Put this down first, and then seal it along each edge. Good luck!

Answer 2

Without knowing the size or length of the gap, "Filling" before using the Flashing, might not be practical, or effective. The more important issue is sealing the gap, OVER so that no water is allowed to flow to the wall or floor beneath the tub.

   One detail you omitted was, What is the substance of the wall? It is green board/ drywall, Tile, a plastic tub surround?

   Awkward is probably accurate. So might Messy be accurate. Best case for you would be to seal, with adhesive or a straight silicone caulk, the back side of the Flashing strip, then apply it. You may still have to go back over, caulking it after the fact. It's likely you'll have to WIPE excess as well. One thing to keep in mind is the hundreds of formulations of caulking. If you use a straight silicone, you will never be able to paint over. You can run a straight line, on the wall, parallel with the top edge of where the "flashing" will attach, press, wipe, and pull the tape, at least offering you a clean edge, butt, from flashing to wall.

   Obviously aesthetics might be an issue, but as valid is sealing off any possibility of water intrusion

  

Steven Wolf

Just my two "sense"

Answer 3

We too have a bath that has gaps, we found that a two stage process is best

1 - pack the gap with mastic to form a water tight bond between tiles(?) and bath edge. Make sure that you fill the bath first to ensure that any gaps are at the maximum - all baths deflect slightly. Let this cure for 8 hours.

2. cut and measure the sealing strip taking account of the corners , here loads of small cuts half way through the tape can with a bit of effort get a good finish.

3. Ensure ( most important bit) that the bath edge and the tiles are clean and dry - by this I mean a really good scrub and leave to dry.

4.Sealant first on the bath, push down the tape and remove excess - leave to cure. Then the wall bit as above - make sure that the bath is full for this bit - otherwise the tape will be pulled off the wall.