Taming silicone caulk
I recently tore out a tub and tub surround and made a custom shower stall in its place. My customer chose slate tiles that vary in thickness and don't have smooth faces. Any tricks or advice on how to install shower door tracks so they don't leak without using a whole case of silicon caulk?
Hi Woodman,
Silicone need not be messy or applied in huge amounts to be effective.
My solution involves using clear silicone caulk, by the way.
On either side of the joint to be caulked place a strip of green, or blue, painters tape. Allow a 'gap' of about 1/8" in the corner, seeing as we're talking about where the jamb meets the tile.
Next apply the silicone to the joint. Do one at a time. Then using a wet finger (a disposible vinyl glove pulled tight is convenient, but still wet it) 'pull' the joint from top to bottom in one shot.
Wipe the excess from the glove and do it again until reasonable pressure doesn't produce a large 'wave' of silicone ahead of the finger tip. By the way at this point I'd already have a paper towel taped to the wall on which I'd 'roll' wipe (sort of like a fingerprinting motion with a smear at the end) the excess silicone instead of wrapping my finger in a paper towel. That way I get more usage out of one sheet.
Next pull the tape off each side of the joint seperately, being careful to avoid the swinging mess touching anything else.
At this point you should have a perfect joint, but if you want to smooth the 'square edge' left by pulling the tape you can safely do with another judicious pass with a wet finger tip.
It's important to remember when applying the tape to have at least 1/16" of metal exposed to ensure a good joint that's over the face, not just in back (seeing as you've got gaps here).
This technique works wonderfully on round, or oval sinks, but in that case I use electrician's rubber tape because it easily conforms to the shape.
Using water based caulk on cast iron is a problem waiting to happen as the rust eventually leaches out from under, and the silicone avoids this problem.
More info than you needed, but I've worked with the sort of tiles you're talking about and built many bathrooms myself, so I hope this info is helpful.
Best regards,
Howard
http://www.howardemerson.com/