No one wants to deal with the pain of a flooded bathroom, which is why learning how to seal a shower tray is important for fixing your flooding issue. Learning how to reseal a shower tray is a good thing to do if you don’t have the budget to replace the shower tray completely, and with the right instructions, you can learn to remove old sealant and learn the best way to seal a shower tray instead. When you replace the sealant in your shower, you can refresh the look and achieve a professional result from home. It’s a simple and yet exceptionally effective way to change the way your shower looks, prevent mould and flooding and make it look brand new.
In this article, we’re going to take you through how to seal a shower tray yourself as well as the tools you will need to seal your own shower tray. Let’s go!
Tools You Need To Seal A Shower Tray
The job to reseal your shower tray doesn’t have to be long-winded, but it’s so much easier to do it all if you have the right tools for the job. Below, the tools you will need are listed to ensure an easier job:
- Silicone sealant. This needs to be of the highest possible quality as you need to ensure that it can be used in the bathroom. Check sealants for an anti-fungal additive to ensure that mould does not develop as a result of a water build up in the shower. Don’t use a generic sealant, go for bathroom use on the packaging, and if you have a natural stone floor, choose a sealant that will be compatible with this material.
- Sealant application gun. To get the sealant into the shower, you need a gun designed to push the sealant out of the pot with better control around the edges. Sealant guns allow you to be consistent without blobbing around the edge.
- Silicone application tools. These tools are designed to pull back on excess sealant and get rid of the excess as you move the sealant gun around the edge of the shower tray.
- Paper towels. You need something to clean the excess with, and this is it! Paper towels are disposable, so they make for an excellent option for cleaning sealant and disposing it easily.
Removing Old Silicone Sealant
The best (and easiest) way to remove the old silicone from the shower is with a sharp knife. It’s better to use a Stanley knife or a sharp chisel to remove the old stuff as it’s sharp enough to cut it away and dispose of it properly. Removal is a delicate job as you want to be careful not to scratch the shower or the wall as you remove it. Wear thick gloves to ensure that you are protected as you remove the sealant, and once you slice away the sealant, place it in a bin or a disposable carrier. There will be some old, smaller strands left when you remove the old sealant, but you can use a finger to remove those pieces. White spirit also works very well as a way to get rid of it, it only takes a moment and all it takes is a dab on a cloth and rubbing over the strands. They either come away or they dissolve but either way it’ll be clean and clear, ready for a new round of sealant.
How To Seal A Shower Tray
Sealing a shower tray is very easy but the preparation is most important. You want the sealant to go onto the shower tray properly, with no lumps, air bubbles or cracks. So, get your tools ready and follow the steps below:
- Dry the whole area before you apply any sealant. When the walls are completely dry, wiped clear of dust and dirt and dried again, you can get started.
- Choose the right tool size to smooth the sealant. You want to ensure that the finished bead covers the gap between the tiles and the new shower tray completely, and this will be the case if you have the right sized tools to get you through the sealing.
- Don’t just start using the sealant in the sealant gun; make sure that you cut the application nozzle. If the hole is too big, you will flood the area around the shower tray. The nozzle has marks to indicate where you should cut for the right size, and this should be cut at a 45 degree angle. You shouldn’t need more than a 5mm hole for an application of sealant, but you can always make the opening wider if you need a bigger bead.
- Make sure that the bead of silicone is even around the shower tray. This part of the process takes a gentle hand and you need to apply very gentle pressure to the trigger of the sealant gun. Go slowly and don’t rush. Start in one corner of the shower tray and work towards the front of the tray and do each line in one movement. Too much silicone and you’ll find it harder to remove any excess
- As you move the gun around the edge of the shower tray, make sure that you don’t leave any visible gaps in the silicone. It should be a thick enough layer to cover the gap between the tiles and tray. Be careful in adding a dab of silicone to any gaps you see.
- Once you have applied the silicone, you should release the pressure from the gun or it’ll keep flowing out and you don’t want a shower tray of leftover silicone. Wipe off the excess and get rid of the paper towels as you go.
- Use the tools to smooth out the sealant against the tiles and the tray and start from where you began sealing. Be gentle with the pressure: you don’t want to scrape it all back off!
- Lastly, leave it to dry fully before you use the shower again.
If you want to get some help with how to seal your shower tray, give GT Sealants a call today on 01277 525 020!
