Bathroom refit - help needed!

[Srober99]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a bit of advice after a bad experience with a (very well reviewed and recommended) local tradesman.

Our bathroom was flooded by an upstairs neighbour when my wife was 30 weeks pregnant. Luckily, insurance paid out and we managed to find a contractor who could complete the work before our due date.

Unfortunately, there is quite a lot of the finish that I'm unhappy with. Our timescales meant I had little opportunity to ask for work to be re-done but, now our daughter has arrived(!), I'm hoping I can fix some of it myself.

What I'm really hoping for is some advice on which of these things are easy to tackle for someone without any DIY experience;

• Replacing shoddy silicone seals
• Re-doing grout that appears to have been painted over
• Removing (?) from tiles

Pictures attached and thanks in advance!

 

[plastic_peanut]

Frustrating but all easily remedied. Would suggest using a scraper with Stanley blades to remove offending silicone. You can then mask up and apply new sealant. Use a wet finger to smooth the surface prior to removing the tape.

The scraper should take the paint off of the tiles or perhaps some warm water and a scourer .

There are tools for removing the grout if needed. You can then buy a bag of the correct colour grout from screwfix mix and apply as necessary.

If sealing the bath to the wall tiles, ensure the bath is filled with water and left overnight.

 

[Srober99]

Thanks so much for the reply - I'll have a go at this in the next few days!

 

[Seafarer1966]

Re: the very sound advice from Peanut the reason you should fill the bath with water before you seal is that the bath drops slightly with the weight. If you don't do this, after you have sealed, and someone takes a bath, the bath will drop with the persons bodyweight/ weight of the bath water and rip the seal.

Did the tiler have a white stick and wear sunglasses?

 

[dang32]

there are guys out there who do siliconing all day long. if you’re after a pukka finish i’d try to find a silicon guy close to you. You’d be surprised how much better it’ll look

 

[opps]

I assume that whoever did the tiling is not a professional tiler.

The silicone work is shockingly bad.

The different colours in the grouting looks like contamination, by that I mean that the sponge probably ended up with tile adhesive on it.

The last time that I saw tiling that bad, I then discovered that the A hole had washed out his sponges and tools in the basin which then clogged the waste pipes.

BTW when working with silicone, dip your fingers in dilute washing up liquid. It stops the silicone sticking you your fingers.

The dark grey silicone is going to be very difficult to apply to a high finish, especially given that your tiles have bevelled edges. It might be advisable to find a specialist (as per Dang32's advice). Oh and get them to run silicone up where the tiles meet in the corner.

 

[opps]

I'm looking for a bit of advice after a bad experience with a (very well reviewed and recommended) local tradesman.

Do you mean you found him on one of "those" websites?

Three yeas ago, the GF paid one of those guys to redecorate our tiny hallway, even though I as a decorator provide a very high quality of finish. He had 5 out of 5 stars and lived a few doors away.

The day he finished, she paid him in full and then asked me to redecorate the whole area. It took him 5 days and took me 3 days just to undo his work.

A few months later she returned to the same site and employed a guy to do a couple of little jobs around the house. He then convinced her that he was the man to redo our downstairs bathroom. She gave him £2800 to buy the materials. She never saw him again... He had 5 star ratings as well.

There is a lot to be said for using tradesmen that are recommended by friends and whose work you can see first.

 

[KenGMac]

When finishing Mastic

There are several "Mastic Finishing Tools" out there, a simple plastic device that smooths of and gives a consistent angled mastic finish.

Suggest you have a look at U-Tube for such finishing devices??

Ken.

 

[Nige F]

there are guys out there who do siliconing all day long. if you’re after a pukka finish i’d try to find a silicon guy close to you. You’d be surprised how much better it’ll look

Generically known as " Mr. Masticator" - you're bound to come across one.