Silicone is used to fill any cracks or gaps, making those areas waterproof and airtight. Silicone is a staple in areas where there is water like a kitchen and bathroom.

Other rooms might only need caulking. Silicone in the bathroom is often found where the tiles meet a bath, shower tray or basin and around bathroom fittings. Although caulk will make an area waterproof and airtight, silicone is used in bathrooms because of its flexibility and caulk is less tolerant to movement and moisture.

Standing in the bath and having the bath filled with water creates movement, same with standing in the shower tray. 

How often should you re silicone?

Silicone sealant products generally last fifteen plus years before you need to consider re siliconing. This of course is also dependent on how much moisture the sealant sits in, how long it takes to dry and how clean the room is with the sealant. If silicone is in a bathroom prone to staying damp for most part of the day, the silicone will get mouldy and if not cleaned and kept on top of, this will eventually leave a grubby look in the bathroom.

When getting ready for the plumber to re silicone remember to never apply new silicone sealant over the old sealant. This will leave a messy finish and an un-smooth finish resulting in the new sealant not being waterproof.

After removing the old sealant, clean the area, leaving it free from silicone debris and mould before reapplying new silicone. A trick to siliconing around the bathtub is to fill the bath with water to weight the tub, get in as much silicone between the tiles and bathtub, and then leave the water in the tub over 24 hrs for the silicone to set.

How much will it cost to re silicone in my bathroom?

The cost of re siliconing depends on the access to the area and what preparation work needs to be completed first. If it is a case of just removing old sealant from around the bathtub, cleaning the area and re siliconing the bathtub, this should be completed within an hour. 

Image	Name	Cost
	Soudal Trade Multi Purpose Silicone 270ml Clear	£4.79
	Wickes Clear All Purpose Silicone Sealant - 300ml	£5.00
	S3 Sanitary Sealant EU3 White	£5.25
	Evo-Stik Trade Sanitary Silicone 280ml White	£7.71
	Mapei Mapesil AC 110 Silicone Sealant 310ml	£9.98
	Dow 785+ Bacteria-Resistant Sanitary Silicone White 310ml	£9.99

If the bathroom needs other areas, like the basin to be re siliconed as well, this will push the job into an extra hour of labour. 

If only doing a shower but the shower is an enclosed unit which means a lot of siliconing is needed for the shower tray and each of the four corners of the shower enclosure, this will take a few hours of labour removing old silicone and re-sealing and could cost as much as half a days labour.

How to remove silicone residue?

If you want to save some labour time, before the plumber arrives to re silicone, you could peel off and remove the old silicone, cleaning up the area ready for the plumber. Some silicone residue might be stuck on a tile, so the easiest way to remove this is to scrape at the residue with a sharp razor blade. Rubbing the area with acetone might help to remove it as well. 

WD-40 is a great trick to easily wipe away any residue silicone. Just be sure to completely clean off the WD-40 before adding the new silicone as the two chemicals will have a reaction.

If you need to remove a strip of silicone from the bathtub, use a putty knife and a hairdryer. Heat the silicone with the hairdryer and then having one hand hold the hairdryer on the silicone, use the putty knife in the other hand to get under the silicone and slowly and carefully scrape off the silicone being careful to not scratch your bathtub.

What colour silicone should I use for the bath and shower?

Silicone comes in a variety of colours. When re siliconing your bathroom, regardless of what colour grout and tiles you have, if you have white sanitary ware, it is best to use white silicone when siliconing along a bathtub, shower or toilet. This will result in a more seamless transition from tile to bathtub.

Some plumbers may offer to match the grout and re silicone along the bathtub or shower tray in a matching sealant. Before you agree to this, go on to sites like Pinterest and Google Images to have a look at examples of how it may look so you can choose what will be best for your bathroom. Regardless of the colour silicone you choose, always make sure when re siliconing the bathroom, that the plumber has a mould and fungus free bathroom sealant that they will be using.

Estimates for common plumber jobs;

Rates for other trades