Application of sealant

[Le Chat]

My husband recently removed the sealant from around our bath and replaced it with new. Unfortuantely, he has made an absolutely shockingly bad job of it! The sealant is lumpy, spread about an inch wide and looks absolutley awful. Obviously, it's going to be removed but does anyone know of a sealant that is easy to use and suitable for the wet area? He followed all the instructions and tried hard but it just didn't turn out well!!

[raysparx1]

Hi Le Chat, Sorry but this made me smile,, by the sound of it he has applied far to much and once you do that it is a mess, when cutting the spout on silicone tube, don't cut it to far down, about an inch is plenty you only need a hole less than quarter of an inch or 6mm if you are metric, when applying do it all in one smooth stroke, don't lift mastic tube untill at the end of the bath, once done, wet finger slightly then lightly run finger along the run of silicone, good luck, Ray

[buildersmate]

I'd agree with that. It goes lumpy if you try and poke it once it starts going off - which is only about 5 minutes - forms a skin that gets pulled along with the smoothing tool (I use a finger - haven'tfound anything to beat it).
Try doing just one run, smooth that before the next run.

[Le Chat]

Thanks guys - He did cut the tube quite far down! Another attempt is on the cards.....

[parkesquay]

I'm not too good at putting sealant straight on and leaving a thin tidy edge. I got around it by running strips of masking tape either side of the gap/join to be filled. Then put the sealant in and ran a finger along the it. Removed tape and one has nice neat lines. I know it is not as the pros do it but it is a jolly good method for an amateur.
Just make sure that the area where the masking tape is to go is dry.

[ethandron]

this sooo rings a bell! we had a new bathroom installed and the really nice plumber told my husband to have a small container with a little water and fairy liquid in it and dip your finger in that to smooth the sealant. and guess what - it works! best of luck.

[sense4all]

Our plumber put cold water in the bath to make it heavy before applying the sealant.