Siliconr, friend or foe.

[jase158]

Went to a property today, previous plumber had installed bathroom, and waste was leaking.

Knocked on door and was one of those that you think straight away, DIY, just because of look of customer.

Any way got upstairs and was leaking from waste washer, tap tails washer and the tap connections.

I sealed them all with sealant and had the usual, we will pay you next week, story. But managed to get money out of them eventually.
My question is, do you professionals out there, seal every joint with silicone, for instance

• Shower connection to wall
• bath to bath connection (tap to bath connection oops!!)
• waste to bath
• overflow to bath

Personnaly speaking I think in this case the bath was a cheap one and the taps were cheap.

Also while on the subject, which way up does bath waste washer go up, cant remember, is it with the ribbed end at top or ribbed end at bottom, I mean the black ones that go under bath, not white one which is above bath.

 

[karenmorgan]

I have nicknamed the plumber I work with as 'Silicone Sid'. That should give you an idea how much silicone we use lol

 

[Paulus]

Provided the correct washers and seals are ok I try not to use silicon, it can damage some of the plastics etc.

Ribbed side at the top.

I also never use the washer supplied for the inside of the bath, it gets binned and this is one place I do use silicon.

 

[jase158]

I always have problems with them not sealing, problem is that silicone looks rubbish.
cheap rubbish.

never have problems with expensive stuff.

 

[GQuigley67]

whats bath to bath connection ??? How did you manage to get the money out of him ?

 

[jase158]

just said I was really busy (as she wanted to drop it off to me) and I would rather have the money there and then, then stated that if it did leak I always come back free of charge to fix.

tap to bath, oops

 

[jase158]

I have nicknamed the plumber I work with as 'Silicone Sid'. That should give you an idea how much silicone we use lol

does he get many leaks?

 

[karenmorgan]

no none at all until I was with him lol!!!!

 

[mikegas]

I use silicone on bath an sink wastes, prefer to use a basin mate for basins if I remember to pick one up, used to use it on syphons but don't bother anymore

 

[dontknowitall]

Silicone on basin waste (loads)







(and loads)

Bath waste - usually nothing but silicone if required.
Overflow - silicone around the upper part and nothing where it fits the waste. If this lower part leaks then a replacement.

The rest of them (metal to metal) I use the appropriate washers. Any plastic plumbing fittings (after a lost customer experience 2 weeks ago) will be replaced with copper to tap connector to tap.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

not forgetting the baby wipes to do a nice finish and get the silicone off your hands

 

[karenmorgan]

baby wipes are a god send!

 

[Guest123]

Plumbers Mate not silicone. I hate the bloody stuff and it's way over used now in places it's not needed. Use a box key with 1/2" and 3/4" ends to horse up taps and they never leak or move.
I don't like plastic wastes as coupled with nasty cheap traps, they are a recipe for cross threading and leaking. I prefer metal wastes and a good quality McAlpine trap with a combined overflow and it will outlast the bath!

 

[jase158]

not forgetting the baby wipes to do a nice finish and get the silicone off your hands

Brilliant, will try this, always end up with sticky hands

 

[jase158]

Plumbers Mate not silicone. I hate the bloody stuff and it's way over used now in places it's not needed. Use a box key with 1/2" and 3/4" ends to horse up taps and they never leak or move.
I don't like plastic wastes as coupled with nasty cheap traps, they are a recipe for cross threading and leaking. I prefer metal wastes and a good quality McAlpine trap with a combined overflow and it will outlast the bath!

does plumbers mate, seal instantly? or do you have to wait 24 hours, does it actually seal, I have pulled it of bath taps, i.e. and it looked disgusting.

 

[jase158]

Plumbers Mate not silicone. I hate the bloody stuff and it's way over used now in places it's not needed. Use a box key with 1/2" and 3/4" ends to horse up taps and they never leak or move.
I don't like plastic wastes as coupled with nasty cheap traps, they are a recipe for cross threading and leaking. I prefer metal wastes and a good quality McAlpine trap with a combined overflow and it will outlast the bath!

will look at box spanner as tap spanners are a pain, onlyproblem with box spanner is you must have water disconnected. but 90% of the time, you are disconnecting water any way, so probably not a bad thing.

 

[arran197]

I don't do much plumbing, all my job is gas related, but when I do the odd plumbing job I use silicon on wastes. During my apprenticeship I did a lot of work with a plumber (much to my disgust, I was on a gas apprenticeship) and he always used it. So I tried it once on a basin without and my god did it p!s5 out! So now I always use it. Seals every time. He also used to put jet blue paste on every compression fitting. After one or 2 drain it back downs, I do it all the time now too!

 

[Guest123]

does plumbers mate, seal instantly? or do you have to wait 24 hours, does it actually seal, I have pulled it of bath taps, i.e. and it looked disgusting.

Yes Plumbers Mate seals instantly whereas silicone takes time to cure. Plumbers Mate is a NON SETTING putty and remains permanently open and flexible.
If using baby wipes, look for the ones containing Citric Acid as this is best for cleaning silicone and stains. To remove excess Plumbers Mate, roll up a small ball of it and roll it round the excess (bit like making a giant snow ball!) or use baby wipes or my favourite which are Wonder Wipes.
To tool Plumbers Mate wet your finger and wipe it. Its great for sticking down stubborn taps too!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Yes Plumbers Mate seals instantly whereas silicone takes time to cure. Plumbers Mate is a NON SETTING putty and remains permanently open and flexible.
If using baby wipes, look for the ones containing Citric Acid as this is best for cleaning silicone and stains. To remove excess Plumbers Mate, roll up a small ball of it and roll it round the excess (bit like making a giant snow ball!) or use baby wipes or my favourite which are Wonder Wipes.
To tool Plumbers Mate wet your finger and wipe it. Its great for sticking down stubborn taps too!

funny how some like plumbers goo and others hate it,never been a fan of plumbers mait its sh~~e imho,but some swear by it,i only use silicone where needed have seen some halfwits use it to assemble compression fittings and your spot on only use wipes with citric acid for silicone

 

[gaspastemania]

Does anyone else like the smell of silicone or is it just me???

 

[Resolute]

Does anyone else like the smell of silicone or is it just me???

I thought I was the only one!

 

[Resolute]

have seen some halfwits use it to assemble compression fittings and your spot on only use wipes with citric acid for silicone

Now that would be worth watching - bet it makes a hell of a mess!

 

[karenmorgan]

How can you assemble compression fittings with silicone??? I hate the smell of it and the feel of it. my work trousers are covered in the stuff!

 

[Best]

Silicone, just like Boss White ruins your clothes alright! I use silicone for nearly everything, but I now try to not waste it. Great job for fitting bath taps straight to bath. Use brass back nuts & lead washers & they will be solid. Silicone seems to go moldy around shower trays etc, so I use 10 year stay white stuff there.

 

[jase158]

got a text saying that bath waste still hasn't sealed, cheap rubbish. Hate it.

 

[GQuigley67]

hate the smell of silicone, but with plumbers mait i cant seem to get it to stick sometimes without it sticking to my fingers and pulling away, i tried to use it to seal a bath waste which was plastic onto lead but kept leaking so i ended up using some denso tape instead

 

[Blackcatgas]

Plumbers mait is good for making large cocks that i then put in my mates tooll bag/lunch box. the smell of silicone reminds me of those cheap asda/tesco etc own brand salt and vinegar crisps what my mam used to buy in the 1980s and id eat 6 packets and get mouth ulcers.

 

[Guest123]

How can you assemble compression fittings with silicone??? I hate the smell of it and the feel of it. my work trousers are covered in the stuff!

It's called Fernox LS120 Leak Sealer and comes in a wee toothpaste sized tube. Not normal silicone in a sense but designed for compression fittings, threads and sealing external leaks. It's actually not too bad but I still prefer white tape.

 

[gravytrain]

Now that would be worth watching - bet it makes a hell of a mess!

ls-x and plumba joint are exactly that - silicone for compression joints. small smear round the olive and hey presto never leaks.

used to use ptfe tape but now i find this is much easier. if there's any excess wipe it off with the ever present big wipes.

 

[Guest123]

ls-x and plumba joint are exactly that - silicone for compression joints. small smear round the olive and hey presto never leaks.

used to use ptfe tape but now i find this is much easier. if there's any excess wipe it off with the ever present big wipes.

The Fernox version is excellent but not suitable for potable water. Good for heating and hot water systems.

 

[fuzzy]

i dont want to use silicon as i prefer to think washers will do the job, however after messing around with so many wastes due to dripping i just silicon them all now, not orth the hassle

 

[jase158]

Thanks to everyone who replied on this, went back to customers today, put some plumbers mate on, job done.

My new rule is, if there is likely to be movement, plumbers mate, if it doesnt move silicone

 

[Guest123]

It aint called Plumbers Mate for no reason. Best stuff for sealing wastes.

By the way, if you want it to set (it's a non setting putty) mix some linseed in it or mix it with standard putty.