Sealing your bathtub is a great way to refresh your bathroom, making it look clean and good as new. If your current sealant is looking worse for wear, it may be time for an upgrade.

We’ve created a guide on how to seal your bathtub – perfect for beginners and DIY enthusiasts!

Taping the edges

Firstly, grab some masking tape and place it around the edge of your bath. While doing so, be sure to mark where you’ll be putting the silicone.

Start from the corner of your bath that is furthest away from the door and place the tape at least 3mm from the wall. That way, you’ll be sure to achieve a sharp, clean finish.

Don’t forget to fill the bath

A step that many people forget is to ensure you fill the bath. This is because your bath will likely sink slightly when it’s full of water. So, before sealing, you should fill it with water to replicate a typical bathing scenario.

If you begin sealing an empty bath, the sealant could crack due to the bath expanding on its first use.

Applying the sealant

To apply the sealant, try to get as close as possible to the edge of the bath that you want to seal. Then, press the caulking gun trigger to apply the silicone. Again, start with the corner furthest away and proceed in one smooth movement.

This means you won’t touch any new silicone you’ve applied. And, if possible, try to apply silicone to both the base and the wall.

Smoothing

Once the sealant is applied, it will need smoothing down. To do this, you’ll need a sealant applicator or an alternative rounded tool, such as a wet spoon.

No matter what you choose, you should be able to smooth the sealant easily. Try to do this at an angle to help any water flow back into the bath from the wall.

What to do if there’s a large gap

If you have a large gap between your bathtub and the wall, you’ll need to remove any existing silicone or grout and reinstall the bath so it’s closer to the wall. That way, you’ll be able to seal the bathtub using the steps outlined above.

If this is not possible, you can bridge the gap with an adhesive or bonding material. After this has dried, you can seal the bath using our steps.