bath sealant

[jaberwocky]

have tried many times to seal round the bath without luck.water still gets in the back between bath and wall.usually fill bath,put on sealant then leave for 24 hours.every time i drain the bath after 24 hours,the cracks in the sealant start appearing.now the water is slowly staining a patch of wall downstairs.is it me or is there a better way? really have tried everything i could find but it always ends up the same.any truly wonderful people out there who could end my misery!!

[winny]

have u made sure all the old sealant is off and the areas too seal are dry otherwise the new silicone wont stick if wall is too badly water damaged might be worth taking first row of tiles off and sorting wall out behind first

[jaberwocky]

thanks winny,i have made sure it is completely dry by completely removing all traces of sealant and letting it dry out for ages.kept checking if any water was around but it always appeared dry.id rather not have to take a row of tiles off.might not get new ones the same.

[carrust]

Is there a lot of movement between the bath & the tiles. If there is you might have to remove the bath side & inspect the bath support brackets.

[jaberwocky]

thanks to all. i'll either keep trying or move house!

[sinbadp]

when you have removed all the old sealant, clean the bath and wall with methylated spirits this will allow the new sealant to stick to both surfaces

[chasbo]

Carrust is correct, If its a plastic bath. I had the same problem - cured by raising ( tightening the bolts)on the bath frame, and wedging bricks/tiles under the chip board thats (usually) is bonded to the underside. This should stop the bath "sagging" when weight is applied, water or yourself!!

[buildersmate]

There's an important trick that no-one above has mentioned.
When you fill a bath with water, the weight of the water is very heavy - much heavier than a person in the bath. Unless its a cast iron bath, the whole bath will move down slightly. This puts tension on the silicon filler material and stretches it. Invariably it breaks. We are only talking about one millimetre here.
The trick is to fill the bath with water just before you start and keep it in there for at least 24 hours. When you empty the bath it rises a bit but this time compresses the silicon filler.

[EDLEE]

If your silicone caulking is cracking it can be from no other reason than movement between the two surfaces being caulked. You will need to stop the movement as Carrust said . It may seem like a lot of effort,but if you do it your seal should last for years just as mine have. If the tub apron is properly supported filling the tub or leaving it empty will make no difference. As others have told you, a clean ,dry surface is always needed, but it won't help if there is still movement.