I Hate Silicon

[willbones]

Just tiled a kitchen splahback coming down onto black worktop. The tiles are not straight on the edges, i.e. manufactured to look like tumbled stone. Just tried to Silicon along work top with mapei black Silicon and it looks ****e. Dont know what im doing wrong, but it looks all uneven. I usually apply a thin bead of Silicon, then spay with soapy water and smooth out with a rubber finger. Just wondering if there are any other way of doing it? Hoe do you guys do it?

 

[GazTech]

I usually apply a thin bead of Silicon, then spay with soapy water and smooth out with a rubber finger. Just wondering if there are any other way of doing it? Hoe do you guys do it?[/quote]Did you not use same method this time Will ?

 

[willbones]

Yeah, but as i was smoothing it out, every time the rubber thing passed a grout line, the grout line cut a chunck of Silicon off the rubber finger. Also the Silicon didnt look straight, it had high points and low points. How much Silicon should one normally apply?

 

[GazTech]

Yeah, but as i was smoothing it out, every time the rubber thing passed a grout line, the grout line cut a chunck of Silicon off the rubber finger. Also the Silicon didnt look straight, it had high points and low points. How much Silicon should one normally apply?

enough to get it into the dry joint.when sprayed wet the wet tiles and wet worktop should stop the Silicon from sticking to it....cant understand where it went wrong mate??

 

[devonmark]

i have a fantastic tool for running along Silicon, will take a pic and put it in the gallery..it comes in many sizes.

 

[GazLC81]

I am crap at siliconing so I mask off nice neat lines and when you remove after appling the Silicon it looks absolutely perfect.

Time consuming though!

Gaz

 

[willbones]

Do u leave the tape on till the Silicon has dried, or take it off when its still wet?

 

[Home Tiler]

If it was me i would make sure the grout line was a thin one for the Silicon...you can never cover bad cuts with Silicon it will always show up....now with you using a rubber finger i would probably use my finger for that tipe of tile that way you can control and feel the pressure you are applying to make a smooth finish....
steve

 

[GazLC81]

I do all the siliconing and then just remove the tape. Don't let it dry as it will take some Silicon with it.

HTH

Gaz

 

[GazTech]

i have a fantastic tool for running along Silicon, will take a pic and put it in the gallery..it comes in many sizes.

I have got eight of them...in different sizes,I call them my fingers ..lol

 

[Fekin]

Yeah, don't know what it would be like using a condom on my finger, lol , whenever I have siliconed I always just use my bare finger, that way I can feel how it's smoothing out.

 

[grumpygrouter]

i have a fantastic tool for running along Silicon, will take a pic and put it in the gallery..it comes in many sizes.

Wouldn't be a Karl Dahm bit of kit would it? I've got one of those, saves me an awful lot of grief I can tell you.

Grumpy

 

[Holohana]

in this case would you maybe benfit from having a larger cut end on your Silicon gun?

 

[CJ]

Finger for me:wink_smile:

And a quick shove in the gob every now and then............don't forget to wipe finger before inserting into facial orrifice

 

[GazTech]

Finger for me:wink_smile:

And a quick shove in the gob every now and then............don't forget to wipe finger before inserting into facial orrifice

or indeed any orrifice😱

 

[DHTiling]

faf..great idea's lads....the technique is to apply correct pressure of the finger to the Silicon joint to get the required finish.. with the aid of soapy water from spray bottle.... all comes with practice.....dave...

 

[ChaseTiling]

Soapy water in a spray bottle, thin bead of Silicon from the gun, mark 1 finger and a nice peice of bog roll....

Make sure your fingers are soapy too, and they are clean. Not to much pressure when fingering it off (ahem.....) 🙂

Best regards,
Chase Tiling