Replacing the sealant around the bath and

[bibbitybobbitybloodyaxe]

is there ANY WAY ON GOD'S EARTH TO STOP THE FUCKER GOING MOULDY?

It is costing me £££ to have this done tomorrow.

Its one of those funny things about modern life: we can split the atom, we can speak to someone in Australia instantly, we can cure cancer ... but we cannot solve the bathroom sealant problem.

make sure they use the good stuff (not the b&q version) sorry don't know what it is called, but it is anti-mould and anti peel.

Fill the bath up with water first and leave it full until the sealant has set. This means when the bath is used the bodyweight doesn't 'pull' the bath down from the seal.
hth

Go to your local plumbers merchants and buy their best one. It's half the price of B&Q etc and twice as good.

It does help, thanks. Did you diy or get someone in to do it? It always seems an disproportionately difficult diy job to me.

my dh has just resealed our shower - it's a messy job, but can be DIY

Loo roll soaked in bleach gets the mould off - put a line of loo roll along the edge of the bath, squirt thick bleach on it, mush it into close contact with the sealant and then leave over night. It won't get rid of really black mould but should stop it getting that way on your new stuff.

No tips for how to replace the sealant though, mine was a DIY job and its well lumpy.

Bibb - we had a plumber do it, he was in anyway as the shower tray seal had lifted and the downstairs ceiling was getting wet. It was he who told me about the sealant

It helps if instead of just having the sealant in the right angle between the bath and the tiles you put in a sort of border, a tile but is a triangle type thing iykwim, fits the right angle and then you seal along the top and bottom of that. Instead of sitting on the sealant the water runs down into the bath again.

My dh has done ours and he's really not a DIYer (though should admit I'm even worse which is how he ended up doing it...) It looks fine for most of it, but behind the right hand tap on the sink is a complete mess as he couldn't get the right angle with his hand - so he says - and I notice it every day. If you're an absolute DIY beginner (or just hopeless like us) then it's probably worth getting in a professional.

dh has just done ours, with the plumbers merchant stuff and a little tool he got from them.

They told him to put masking tape either side, apply the sealant run the gizmo over the top to acheive the 45 degrees Indith is talking about then peel off the tape.

He has done it loads before and tbh it looked crap, but this time it is really professional looking.

A trim, that's what I'm talking about. Not just the angle you smooth the sealant at. My brain knows what I'm on about, it just doesn't have words. The baby ate them.

The other problem is that bleach removes sealant.
So if you get the slightest dip water collects, it goes mouldy, you use bleach to clean it and you get more gaps for water to collect! Grrr!

You need my Mum. She's obsessive about wiping down the walls when the shower has been used so they never get any mould.
My Mum is the solution to most household cleaning. :o

Our bath taps are in such a stupid position that water always collects and the gap is too small to clean properly.

Ohhh, sorry Indith, sadly it doesn't take anything much to confuse me! A trim is a good solution if you have the right shaped bath. Our taps are (predictably) in the way so sealant, bleach and bilbio's mum are the only answer!

I once used EasilyConfusedIndith as my user name but had to discard it as I kept getting confused as to why it wouldn't let me log in when I typed "Indith"into the box.

I want bilbo's mum too. My bathroom is a downstairs end on single story flimsy extension job and has no extractor fan. It tends to look rather like a swamp in there and the mould is creeping back in for the winter. I really need to attack all the grouting but I can't be arsed. Maybe I should get dh to do it. I can't possibly handle bleach I'm pregnant . Job done!

Our grout was really mouldy, it needed scraping out and redoing. Plus the previous owners hadn't cleared the grout off the tiles properly so it looked terrible.

In my case I found pregnancy was the solution. :o

With DD I had time for lots of long lazy baths, and I cleared the grout off with a pumice stone. The area I could reach looked so much better so I started doing small sections higher up when I was in the shower letting conditioner soak in.

I kept it vaguely clean after that, and DD wouldn't let me have long lazy soaks when I was pregnant with DS, but it only needed a quick scrub with the nail brush.

I agree though Indith, you definitely can't use bleach when pregnant. Enjoy your cake. :o

I think I am going to have to morph into biblio's mum and remember to dry the sealant after every shower. Will probably use an old flannel for the job but then someone or other in the household is bound to get confused and use it to wash their face with! Sigh. Housework: its never like in the adverts is it?

I am a sealant/grouting expert (if I may say so myself :o)

I cut as much of the sealant off as possible with a stanley knife then use the sealant remover stuff you get in a tube to get the last bits off. Make sure it is completely clean and dry (quick wipe with white spirit on bog roll)

Use decent sealant, personally always use the Evo Stick 1 hour. Run a very thin bead along one sidethen smooth with a wet finger and wipe off excess onto paper towel. Carry on doing one side at a time. Don't mess with it too much or it will look horrible.

I do mine every year or so and use dettol mould and mildew in between to keep it looking nice.

I recently replaced the sealant on my shower and I am not even faintly good at DIY I watched videos on Youtube but did PSML at the US ones who kept talking about old caulk and new caulk (pronounced cock). Yes, childish

We can't always cure cancer

Anchovies - once a year!? You are a marvel. I bought some top of the range anti mould sealant and sat it slap bang on the middle of the bathroom shelf where I see it every time I go in to the bathroom to shame me in to getting it done ... oooh, about 3 months ago .

But now we are having our kitchen done, including a new ceiling, and the builder won't go on until the drips through the minging bath sealant are fixed - so one of his lads is up there doing it right now. It will be lovely to have it clean and white again.

Ha haaa at caulk!