Sealing a bath with a wall consists in processing the joint between them to prevent water from entering the floor and improving the appearance of the bathroom. The term "sealing" implies the complete impermeability of the object to gas or liquid. To achieve this result, special materials with appropriate properties will be required.
Methods of sealing joints in the bathroom
Ways to seal a bath with a wall:
- processing with silicone sealant (silicone) ;
- blowing foam;
- cement mortar;
- installation of a corner;
- sealing with a border tape;
- a combination of several methods (for example, a joint treated with silicone, can be decorated with a border tape on top).
Material selection
The main requirement for the materials used in the bathroom is thermal and water resistance. For sealants and other insulating materials, an additional requirement is complete waterproofness. Sealing the joints of the bathtub with the wall aims not only to technically competently design the room, but also to prevent the appearance of fungal and mold lesions on the surface of the walls and floor, to prevent the development of other harmful bacteria.
Therefore, when choosing materials, it is necessary to give preference to those that have antibacterial and antifungal components in their composition.
Silicone sealant
How to seal a bathtub with a wall using silicone sealant? Tools you need to work:
- alcohol or solvent;
- scissors or a sharp knife;
- tube with silicone sealant (transparent or the color of the walls in the bathroom);
- mounting (construction) gun;
- plastic or ceramic baseboard.
Sealing a bath with a wall with silicone provides the following procedure:
- Thoroughly clean the joint and adjacent surfaces from dirt, construction debris, etc.
- Degrease the joint with solvent or alcohol. To dry.
- Cut off the tip on the sealant tube. It should be borne in mind that the sharper the cutting angle, the thinner the line.
- Apply sealant with a mounting gun in a continuous line as carefully as possible.
- Moisten the applied silicone with soapy water and align the line with your finger.
- If desired, a plastic or ceramic border can be glued over the sealant.
Polyurethane foam
Sealing a bathtub with a wall with foam is one of the easiest ways to solve the problem. Tools you need to work:
- alcohol or solvent;
- construction (breadboard) knife ;
- gloves
- spray foam can;
- finishing material.
Procedure:
- Thoroughly clean the joint and adjacent surfaces from dirt, construction debris, etc.
- Degrease the joint with solvent or alcohol. To dry.
- Wear gloves.
- Shake the foam bottle and apply it evenly on the joint, avoiding contact with the walls and surface of the bath. When applying, be sure to take into account that after drying, the volume of the foam increases significantly.
- Dry for an hour.
- Remove excess dried foam with a construction knife.
- Depending on the type of decoration of the walls of the bathroom, you can putty the seam and then cover with paint of a suitable color or glue the border from tiles, plastic, etc.
Solution
How to seal a bath with a wall using cement mortar? Materials and tools to do the work:
- rags;
- plaster blade;
- capacity for solution;
- quarry sand;
- if you have only river sand at hand, you will need a plasticizer (professional or its replacement: lime, clay or washing powder);
- cement M400 or M500;
- atomizer;
- water;
- finishing material.
Procedure:
- Thoroughly clean the joint and adjacent surfaces from dirt, construction debris, etc.
- Prepare a solution of medium density.
- Lay the joint with rags soaked in a liquid solution. This will help prevent the composition from getting onto the floor.
- Moisten the surface of the walls and bath at the junction.
- Gently apply the solution, taking care that the seam is not too wide.
- After drying, depending on the type of decoration of the walls of the bathroom, you can putty the seam and then cover with paint of a suitable color or glue the border from tiles, plastic, etc.
Solution preparation:
- If there is river rather than quarry sand, you first need to add a plasticizer, otherwise the solution will not be dense enough, which means that the seam will be unstable as a result. Instead of professional plasticizer, you can use lime, clay or laundry detergent. The ratio of the components of the mixture should be as follows: 4: 0.8 sand / lime; 4: 0.5 sand / clay; 4: 0.2 sand / washing powder.
- To the sand or its mixture with a plasticizer add one part of cement in the proportion: 4: 1 for cement M400 and 5: 1 for composition M500.
- Stir the mixture thoroughly with a spatula.
- Gradually add water until a solution of medium density is obtained.
A corner
A corner for sealing a bath with a wall is another fairly simple and reliable way to solve the problem of sealing joints. Its other names are plastic baseboards, a PVC border for a bathtub. For tiles, a ceramic border is more suitable. Materials and tools for mounting the corner:
- quick-drying transparent glue (tile adhesive);
- alcohol or solvent;
- plastic or ceramic baseboard (border) for the bath;
- construction knife;
- masking tape;
- mounting gun;
- transparent silicone sealant.
Skirting boards with a layer of glue already applied are on sale. It is better not to use them, since this glue does not have moisture resistance. If such a corner is mistakenly acquired, then the glue layer must be carefully cleaned from it. To do this, you need a knife and a solvent. Stronger compositions are not recommended, as they can seriously damage the surface of the baseboard.
Procedure:
- Thoroughly clean the joint and adjacent surfaces from dirt, construction debris, etc.
- Degrease the joint with solvent or alcohol. To dry.
- Cut the border with a construction knife into strips of the desired length at an angle of 45 degrees.
- Attach sections of the curb to the joint.
- Glue masking tape along each part along the edges to prevent glue from getting on the surface of the walls and the bathtub.
- Remove the border.
- Apply glue to the joint.
- Reattach and glue the sections of the border tightly.
- Allow the glue to dry, and then remove the masking tape.
- The place where the border adjoins the wall is treated with a thin layer of transparent silicone sealant.
Border tape
For those who do not have experience in performing construction work, even such a simple task as sealing a bathtub with a wall will become a problem. Sealing the joint with a self-adhesive border tape is the easiest and least time-consuming way to solve this problem. On the back side of such a material there is an adhesive layer based on butanol. Types of border tape: angular and curly. It is sold in the form of rolls. The figured tape differs from the corner by the presence of an additional sector (in the center) without glue. The kit usually includes an applicator, corners, sometimes a construction knife. When choosing a bath tape, it is recommended to give preference to products with antifungal components.
When buying a self-adhesive border tape, you need to pay attention to the fact that this product has a limited shelf life. It belongs to the adhesive layer. Mostly white tape is on sale, but if necessary, you can pick up a border of the desired shade in companies that work on order. The length of a standard roll is 3.5 m. It is linked to the perimeter of the bathtub of a normal size, but just in case, it is better to measure the actual length of the joint. The width of the tape can also be different: the narrower it is, the better. A wide tape is recommended to be used only when the width of the joint itself requires it.
Materials and tools for work:
- alcohol or solvent;
- border tape;
- construction tape;
- applicator;
- construction knife;
- sanitary sealant for the bath.
Procedure:
- Thoroughly clean the joint and adjacent surfaces from dirt, construction debris, etc.
- Degrease the joint with solvent or alcohol. To dry.
- Cut the tape with a construction knife into pieces of the desired length with a margin of 2-3 cm on each side.
- At the joints of the tape segment and the corner, leave the upper part straight, and cut the bottom at an angle of 45 degrees.
- Attach sections of the curb to the joint.
- Glue masking tape along each piece along the edges to mark the places where the tape adheres to the wall and the bath and ensure its even location.
- Remove the border.
- Bend the tape along the fold line and heat it with hot air, this will improve the adhesion of the adhesive layer to the surfaces of the walls and the bath.
- Starting from the corner, stick each piece on the basting made with tape. Carefully remove 15 cm of the protective layer on the back of the tape and, smoothing, stick it, firmly pressing the applicator.
- Fix corners with sanitary sealant.
Features of working with acrylic coatings
Sealing acrylic bathtub with wall requires consideration of some features of working with such coatings.
- You can not use any glue, as there is a high risk of spoiling the surface of the bath.
- You need to choose adhesives for plastic and vinyl.
- Do not use concentrated solvents.
The cost of sealing the bath and reviews
If there is no desire or time to fix the joint yourself, you can invite a plumber specialist. The list of services provided by him also includes sealing the bathtub with a wall. The price of the work, depending on the method chosen by the customer, will be from 350 to 3000 rubles. This usually does not include the cost of materials.
Reviews of some sealing methods:
- Some people did not like the result of their independent work. It turned out that without dexterity it is difficult to level the sealant in one motion, and if interrupted, flaws are visible.
- Very neat is the junction of the bathtub with a tile with a plastic angle. Silicone sealant is applied so as to completely fill the space at the corner, and then a baseboard is attached to it. We get a silicone seam completely covered by a corner.