Frameless Glass shower wet sealed failed – need to re-silicone
squamishmark
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I want to re-silicone our shower – mainly just the one large panel to left of the door as the bond between the glass and tile on the wall side has failed and the bottom is a bit slimy. The tile is limestone and was seaed prior to install so we initially had some issues with poor bonding of silicone.
I would prefer no to disassemble whole shower. Any thoughts on how to go about this? I am thinking maybe support/shim panel and remove silcone in place and redo.
Replies
You're got a tought job ahead. The first thing you have to do is remove the old silicone. I mean all of it too, razor scrapers and elbow grease. Once it's off appy blue tape to each side of each corner and apply the new silicone. You can use a filet tool to getit in behind the glass and make it lok better. Once you're happy pull the tape off in a direction away from the filet. Don't use the shower for at least 24 hours
About 20 years ago someone -- I'm thinking Dap -- made a "silicone caulk remover" that worked pretty well. You would spread it on like butter and let it work for several hours, then peel the caulk away. Didn't work perfectly, and you still needed to scrub afterwards, but it was better than anything else I've seen.
Have no idea if it's still made -- probably not, since good products tend to die quickly.
I absolutely hate sillycone. It's great until you need to remove or re-caulk then like other have said you need to cut, scape, sand... rinse and repeat or you wont get a good bond . Look at what the boatyards use- polysulfide or polyurethane- better product even if it's a little more expensive.
I recently tried clear Phenoseal on a shower door install. It went in bautifully but I'll need to let you know in 5 years time it holds up...