Sealing a bath - new bathroom

[MrsLindor]

I've had ongoing problems with the seal around my bath, I had a new bath a few years ago and that's been resealed at least four times and needs doing again. The electric shower recently broke and there are other issues so I've decided we'll manage for a few months (we have taps with a shower attachment) and I'll get some money together to renovate the whole bathroom.

I have room for a curved shower bath, I could possibly have a corner bath and move the basin, but I don't have room for a bath and separate shower cubical, I want to make sure that this issue of the shower water leaking down the side of the bath is dealt with once and for all, what's the answer? I don't want to spend, I'm imaging around £2k (very small bathroom) and then having to have silicone replaced around the bath in six months. Any tips for an easy to clean and maintain modern minimal bathroom design appreciated. I'm thinking a shower screen rather than the shower curtain we have now, a basin in a vanity and no pipes showing behind the toilet.

Also is £2,000 a reasonable budget for a very small bathroom - town in the north of England prices? Basically back to plaster and starting again including a new ceiling. I'll find a local trusted trader to do the work not a big bathroom firm.

I was also thinking that rather than having it fully tiled again I'd just have it tiled or panelled around the bath and a splash back behind the basin, on the basis that a painted wall is easier to clean than tiles/grout and easier to paint and refresh the room every couple of years, any thoughts on that would be good.

This leak that’s causing the problem, is it on the outside of the bath like, say, for a glass panel to keep the shower water from going everywhere ?

Just trying to understand how it needs replacing so often before offering advice.

It's around the bath, the silicone between the bath and the tiled wall. While I'm having the bathroom redone I'd like to eradicate this problem if possible.

2k will be av tight budget if you are paying someone to do it. The seal shouldn't need re doing so often. It's really odd. We did a bath about 5 years ago and it's never needed redoing.

If you really want to replace the whole system, a shower screen is always better than a curtain in my opinion. As tanstaafl has said though, where is the leak coming from?
A few things to check before you do anything, is, are you tiles sitting above the bath and when the bath was re-siliconed, was it filled to the top with water and left to cure for an hour or so before letting the water out. Also, a sensible thing for anyone to do, is to run silicone along the two or three flat edges of the bath that sit against the walls as this also helps stop any water running down the back of the bath and causing leaks or staining.
If none of those have been done and you don't want to spend money to refit everything, it may be a sensible idea to pull the bath out and redo anything that isn't correct.

I have read that the bath should be filled with water before the sealant is applied, and left full until it dries. Otherwise the weight when full is what pulls the bath and sealant apart. Also use a good brand sealant as the cheap ones can be low quality.

As Muchly and Pony say. The reason bath seals fail is that the bath moves - either the bath itself, the support framing or (hopefully not) the floor are dropping the bath away from the seal when it's in use, tearing it open. That's what'll need fixing, but depending what the cause is makes big differences to the effort (and price).

The tiles go behind the bath and it's been done professionally twice, and twice by me, I think there's probably too much movement in the frame and floor, so it just ends up pulling away, so when you're using the shower water gets behind, not lots and not all the time, mainly when DC forget to point the shower towards the curtain. I can add some more silicone and bodge it until I can get the bathroom done.

I definitely want to redo the bathroom anyway, it was more how to avoid having this problem in future really, as part of designing a new bathroom. I think I need a proper shower bath this time which will hopefully be stronger and move less. I'm planning to move the bath so it'll site length ways between three walls so hopefully there's less scope for movement anyway.

I was advised to buy a steel
bath which doesn’t flex as much which breaks the seal. Something to consider.

The main problem then, will be that your tiles are sitting behind the bath. Part of the protection is the flex in the silicone between the bottom of the tile and the bath. The silicone is not able to grip and flex as well on the tiles.
When it is redone then, make sure that the bath is fitted, before you tile or place panelling.and use silicone to bind the bath to the wall. This gives it the flex that is needed as well as providing extra protection and water damage. You should only need to renew your silicone every five or so years

@Candy150

Totally agree. Being a plump (fat) person, I had a steel bath fitted. No movement of bath so no movement of the very narrow sealant around the bath.

No, no to shower screen though. Shower curtain all the way. Easy to remove and wash. Easy to keep clean. Also can used to change the look of the bathroom, through use of colour and/or design.

@Muchlywrong

That is how my bath was fitted. Only small amount of sealant showing and makes for a very neat look.

Sorry @MsHeffaPiglet, but it's not about how neat it looks, which if it is done properly, should look neat. It is about getting the bath fitted correctly, so that it doesn't leak and cause problems for MrsLindor.