Seal­ing a show­er is a nec­es­sary step that must be tak­en to pre­vent water from leak­ing out, and dam­ag­ing the sur­round­ing walls and floor­ing. Cor­rect­ly applied sealant will also reduce the chances of mould devel­op­ing in the crevices between the tiling and the show­er itself.

In this step-by-step guide, we detail how to cor­rect­ly seal a show­er, along­side the tools you’ll need for the job. We also advise you how to remove old sealant if you’re per­form­ing some straight­for­ward bath­room maintenance.

• Tools required

• Step one: Prepar­ing the area

• Step two: Apply­ing the sealant

• Step three: Smooth­ing the sealant

Tools Required

To com­plete this job, you’ll need some basic tools, which will be avail­able through a selec­tion of our nation­wide stock­ists or your near­est hard­ware store.

You’ll need the following:

• Tube of bath­room sealant

• Car­tridge gun

• Sealant fin­ish­ing tool

• Clean­ing spray

• Scraper or util­i­ty knife (if remov­ing old sealant first)

Is caulk or sil­i­cone sealant bet­ter for showers?

Caulk and sil­i­cone sealants can both be used for seal­ing a show­er. How­ev­er, we’d rec­om­mend using a sil­i­cone based sealant, since it offers greater elas­tic­i­ty when dry, mak­ing it less prone to crack­ing under movement.

What is the best sealant for seal­ing a shower?

There’s a vari­ety of great sealants to choose from when under­tak­ing a task like this. Whilst there isn’t one spe­cif­ic brand we’d rec­om­mend, we sug­gest look­ing for a qual­i­ty sil­i­cone sealant that has anti-mould properties.

Step One: Preparation

The first thing you need to do is pre­pare the area you’re going to be seal­ing. This means remov­ing any dirt, dust or gen­er­al detri­tus from the space you’ll be apply­ing sealant to.

It’s impor­tant that the area is nice and clean because it will give the sealant a sta­ble sur­face to adhere to, which will max­imise its longevi­ty and pre­vent any unwant­ed leaks.

If you’re reap­ply­ing sealant to a pre­vi­ous­ly installed show­er, then you’ll need to use a scraper tool to remove the old sealant. 

A qual­i­ty scraper tool should be able to get all the old sealant off with some per­se­ver­ance. If some bits are giv­ing you a hard time, then we’d rec­om­mend using a util­i­ty knife with a new blade to remove them.

Once the pre­vi­ous sealant has been removed, give every­thing a good clean, and make sure the sur­faces are smooth to the touch.

Safe­ty: As with any blade, we’d rec­om­mend tak­ing your time. Ensure you’re not leav­ing your oth­er hand along the route you’re cut­ting through, to pre­vent an injury caused by a poten­tial slip.

Tip: Once cleaned, make sure the area you’re seal­ing is total­ly dry.

Step Two: Apply­ing the Sealant

Now your area is pre­pared, you’re ready to start apply­ing the sealant.

The first thing we’d rec­om­mend is get­ting acquaint­ed with the car­tridge gun if you haven’t used one before. They’re straight­for­ward to use, and fea­ture a basic trig­ger mech­a­nism and push rod to squeeze sealant out of the tube. 

To pre­pare the sealant tube, cut the tip of the appli­ca­tor at a 45-degree angle to achieve the desired bead size. You don’t have to cut it at an angle, but it does allow for a smoother appli­ca­tion whilst con­trol­ling the flow of the sealant. 

Once done, place the tube in the car­tridge gun and adjust the push rod mech­a­nism so it’s touch­ing the base of the tube.

Place the tip of the gun at one end of the area you’re seal­ing, and slow­ly press the trig­ger until sealant starts to appear.

Once sealant emerges from the appli­ca­tor, slow­ly start mov­ing the gun along the seam at a steady pace. When doing this, you’re look­ing to cre­ate a bead with a con­sis­tent thick­ness and no spaces.

After you’ve fin­ished apply­ing sealant, we’d rec­om­mend releas­ing the push rod by a small amount. This relieves the pres­sure on the tube, which pre­vents any fur­ther sealant from com­ing out.

Tip: If you haven’t applied sealant before, then use a card­board box with two sides at a 90-degree angle to each oth­er to prac­tice on.

Tip: Ensure the show­er tray has been filled with water, or that you’re stand­ing inside the show­er when apply­ing sealant. Show­er trays can flex under weight, so ensur­ing any gaps are sealed under nor­mal usage con­di­tions will pre­vent any unwant­ed leaks.

Step Three: Smooth­ing the Sealant

Once you’ve applied the sealant to the seams of the show­er, you’re ready to smooth it out.

We’d rec­om­mend a ded­i­cat­ed smooth­ing tool for this part of the job. They tend to be small, square tools with a 45-degree angle at each cor­ner (with vary­ing sizes).

Find the right size for your appli­ca­tion, then begin by dip­ping the tool in some soapy water, which will help pre­vent the sealant from stick­ing to the tool. Once done, run the tool along the applied sealant, cre­at­ing a smooth finish.

Can I use my fin­ger to smooth sealant?

Yes, using a fin­ger to smooth sealant is a com­mon alter­na­tive to using a ded­i­cat­ed tool. How­ev­er, we’d always rec­om­mend using a tool to reduce the chances of intro­duc­ing bac­te­ria into the sealant, whilst main­tain­ing a con­sis­tent finish. 

If you don’t have a smooth­ing tool, then we’d sug­gest clean­ing your hands thor­ough­ly before using this method.

More handy guides and resources

At Rop­er Rhodes Trade Solu­tions, we offer a vari­ety of excel­lent prod­ucts through our nation­wide stock­ists and our best to give our cus­tomers the sup­port they need, which is why we offer a range of guides and resources to help with any job.