Need to replace sealant around bath tub?

I replaced my bathroom suite this summer. Already the sealant is cracking and showing gaps. Can I put more sealant over it or do I need to remove the old and replace with new? If I need to remove the old, what is the best way to do it without taking chunks out of the (plastic) bath?


Thanks...Need to replace sealant around bath tub?
As a former tiler, who used to seal baths 2 or 3 times a week .....


- remove old sealant all the way round - with a stanley blade, as described. Mare sure you get as much off as possible, off the wall and the bath.


- clean it up, make sure there are no bits in the way of where the new sealant is going - you can pick off little bits, or scratch them off with a finger nail


- cut the nozzle of the tube to a suitable diameter, at an angle of 45 degrees.


- hold the tube (preferably a mastic gun) at a angle of 45 degrees to the direction of travel, and squeeze the sealant out at a constant rate, whilst dragging (not pushing) the nozzle along the gap.


- don't stop - complete the whole length of the gap.


- repeat around all gaps to be filled.


- wet your index finger (lots and lots of spit, so the mastic doesn't stick to it), and run your finger along each gap, to give a smooth finish, and also to complete the seal against the bath and the wall/tiles


any gaps can be filled with an additional squeeze of mastic (not too much), and smoothed over as before, for a perfect finish.


- ps - have a tissue handy, to wipe excess off your finger, after each length has been smoothed with your finger.


- easy !Need to replace sealant around bath tub?
whatever did you use if you used the right stuff you should be able to peel it off pretty easily
Are you a bloke or what? Even I can do this and I'm a bloody bird.... rip off as much as the old sealant as you can and replace... and this time do it properly, it shouldn't be coming away already....





or better still as you sound like a complete liability around the house, get a professional in.
I find it easiest with a stanley knife blade, if it is a fibre glass bath you have to be careful of cutting into the bath itself, so make sure it si flat to the bath surface





It is better to take the blade out of the knife handle, push it into the sealant and holding it flat to the bath edge run it along.


Then do the same as you run it along the wall edge but twist the blade slightly into the wall as you run it along.





You must keep your fingers to the back edge of the blade and it can be held in paper if it is more comfortable.
If it's deteriorating, simply peel it off - you may need to scrape at it with a curved paint scraper (I've found these useful in the past). You can also get a solvent to remove the last of the bits.





A tip from a professional plumber which was passed on to me. When you're resealing your bath, fill it with cold water so that when it's dry and you fill the bath again, you don't cause a gap to appear.
You need to strip all the old stuff off first.





I bought some stuff from B%26amp;Q (name has gone though) and it helped take all the old sealant off. As it is cracking already, it shold be easy to get a wallpaper scrape blade beind it and yank it off??





When you are putting the new sealant on, make sure you don't leave the sealant to be on a slope or when it dries (which takes over 24 hours), water will gather in the gaps and it will go mouldy even if the sealant states that it never goes mouldy.





I will be re-doing mine in the next two weeks.





Good luck :-)
If the old sealant is coming away, I would gently try and prize it off first. You cant really put a fresh application over the top..
Try white spirits to help remove the old sealant and a grout remover tool. Next sealant you try get a silicone based sealant instead, it is elastic and wont crack and is waterproof.
remove old sealant with sealant remover from b%26amp;q etc, when putting new sealant on fill the bath first as plastic baths move slightly !!!
did you fill the bath with water the first time this helps when sealing as the bath will move with water being added if you hadn't try doing it again.


just use a stanley knive or other sharp knife and get into a corner try prising some out and pull it along.