If you’ve ever tried to renew the sealant around your bath or sink, you’ll know how hard it is to get a professional-looking finish on the silicone. It’s a job that may be best left to the professionals, but if you’re going to have a go yourself, taking a few simple precautions should improve your results.

Buy Good Quality Silicone

There are some very cheap brands of silicone available in the shops, but these won’t produce the results you need. If you don’t invest in one of the recognised brands, such as Dow, you may find yourself having to redo it far sooner than expected.

Prepare Your Tube

The silicone tube is likely to expand under pressure from the skeleton gun, resulting in it running on after you’ve released the trigger. Wrapping the tube in a non-stretching tape, such as brown parcel tape, will prevent this from happeneing.

Use a sharp blade to cut the nozzle, so that you get a clean edge, and make sure the opening isn’t too large. The cut should be at an angle of around 30-45 degrees.

Prepare for Application

The surfaces you’re going to apply the silicone to must be clean and smooth. In particular, make sure there’s no soap or any kind of residue on them, otherwise the silicone may not adhere properly.

You should have a container of water on hand — an old cup is ideal. This is for wetting your finger to smooth the silicone after application. It’s important not to use spit, since this contains bacteria which can grow on the silicone. Also have cloth or kitchen roll to clean silicone off the gun or your finger.

Applying the Silicone

Press the trigger just enough so a smooth flow of silicone comes out, which should avoid applying too much. Make sure you’re in a position where you can do a full run in one go from a standing position, since moving might vary the application, and move the gun along at a speed that will apply a uniform bead.

Other plumbing services

Bleeding your radiators will make a big difference to the efficiency of your heating system, but there are other things you can do, from putting insulation foil behind your radiators to buying a radiator booster. For a free, no-obligation bathroom design consultation, get in touch with the JMA Tiling & Bathrooms team. You will find a group of hard-working and attested bathroom installers, with years of experience.