# Forum Home Renovation Waterproofing  Stuffed up my caulking - PLEASE HELP!!

## mgt

I am posting this in a moment of great stress :Cry:  ,(every other current forum question and process in my reno is on hold)  
I have just attempted to begin the caulking process in my reno'd/newly built ensuite.  I managed one wall/wall joint ok. (white on white internal corner - tight join) 
I began the second - Another wall/wall internal corner but white tiles into charcoal (using white silicone sealant).  However my tile cutting skills left a bit to be desired and I have some very "stepped" gaps.  i.e. every 300mm there can be a 7mm gap that narrows to a 3mm gap, then that starts again (300mm x 600mm tiles laid on their long side). 
As I ran the bead - I obviously had to pump heaps in the wide gap - then ease it off as the gap narrowed.  Anyway, sprayed the join with soapy water, ran my soapy wet finger down the join and.......... (I will save you the story and the many expletives!!),.... I basically stuffed it. (uneven edges, not a clean line in places, thin in others etc. etc.) 
After attempts to fix by re-wiping my finger many times - it was beyond fixing.  So I used my finger and a square silicone tool to basically gouge it all out as much as possible.  I wanted to re-apply while the old stuff was fresh (so it the next bead would adhere to the old bead).  However given that I has sprayed soapy water everywhere to try and get a good finish (massive fail) I decided that any new bead would not adhere. 
After some googling I have discovered that silicone will not adhere to silicone (increase in already high stress levels :Eek: ).  So after more googling tried to use acetone (nail polish remover) to try and get the remnants out of my deep and wide joins.  This started to make a bit of a mess and smear it out onto my charcoal tiles.  So I scrapped this and went back to the soapy water to clean it up. 
I am resigned to let the joint dry - then use some fresh warter to clean it out and then let it dry to try again tomorrow or so. 
My questions:  *#1 - Will any new silicone I put into this joint* *adhere?? (or will the coating that it left in the join after I wiped the first one out prevent adhesion of this second run of silicone???) 
#2 - Would an alternative like SikaFlex 11FC be an alternative to caulk this joint as it may adhere to the film of silicone left in  the join??? 
#3 - Given my wide join in some places (7mm wide and 10mm deep)  Do I need a backer rod/material in these sections to avoid "three side adhesion" ????? (just found out about this one)* :Frustrated:  
 EDIT: Just looked at what I thought was a good bead at my Wall/Floor join  - Failed again.  There are holes/gaps where it has not quite met the edge of the wall tile in a few spots.  Now I guess I have to cut out this whole bead out *#4 - Any tips on removing/cutting out a bead of silicone? (what products did you use to clean/clear the join after cutting out?)* 
I can't believe I have been through so many processes of correct substrates, waterproofing, tiling, grouting etc. (with heaps of help from this forum) to potentially fall flat on my face just before the finish line.  :Sad2:  
Your help, knowledge and advice would be enormously appreciated. 
MGT.

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## Random Username

To get you back to the start:  Selleys Silicone Sealant Remover | Selleys Australia

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## andy the pm

I find a nice sharp chisel used very carefully is good for scraping up dried silicon, the glossy tiles are easier to get it off. And a pot scouring pad for small bits, again used carefully.
I also used to put masking tape down before I caulked which helped create a nice even fillet. And made cleaning up a bit easier.

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## Jacksin

> ran my soapy wet finger down the join and.

    Wrong, that will spread it everywhere 
Use the shaped end of an ice-cream stick to remove the excess, although with your huge gaps you may need to alter the stick shape slightly, and use a soapy finger last of all to smooth out any imperfections

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## FrodoOne

Well, you have been told how to remove the silicone but there is still your question:
#2 - Would an alternative like SikaFlex 11FC be an alternative to caulk this joint as it may adhere to the film of silicone left in the join??? 
  Assuming re-starting from scratch, my thought would be to use silicone to shallow fill at the rear of the joint (for waterproofing purposes) and to finish off the joint surface with a suitable acrylic filler (e.g. Caulk-in-Colour)   This is easy to apply, smooth out and any excess can be easily remove from tiles.  Being water based, it tends to shrink - so two applications may be necessary. 
 As to "three side adhesion", I cannot help you BUT having an acrylic based layer over the silicone may help. 
 The uneven cutting of the tiles may look unsightly when finished with different coloured grout.  Is it possible to use an angle grinder with a diamond blade to CAREFULLY enlarge the smaller gaps - even although 7 mm is quite a large gap?

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## METRIX

My suggestion would be to remove the tiles, recut new ones to give you a even 2-3mm gap, this way the job will look better, and be easier to silicon the corners.
If your tiles open from 3mm to 7mm in a stepped fashion you havent either set your levels correctly and or have not accounted for an out of plumb wall. 
I cant stand seeing silicon pumped into gaps of 5-10mm (and i'v seen a lot of these), it not only looks dodgy, it's a bugger to remove, it won't last the distance, will discolour over time and attracts mould eventually (no matter what the package says about anti mould). 
I would bite the bullet, take off the offending tiles and replace them, what your trying to do is dodgy up a dodgy install and what you will end up with is a dodgy looking job that won't perfrom as it should, the corner joins are very important in a bathroom for effective long term moisture protection, putting caulk in there also won't work, caulking in wet areas is not suitable because it attracts the dirt very quickly. 
Pumping in 11FC or whatever else you can buy off the shelf is not a magic fix, there is an inherent problem which is the gaps are too large, fix this first. 
I believe in a philosophy my Dad taught me, do it right or don't do it al all, we all make mistakes at one time or another, your's is recoverable, but unfortunately not with a tube of silicon
It suprises me when you were laying the tiles and seeing the enormous gap that you didn't think to stop and rectify this before getting to the stage your at now.

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## crjx

As an amateur who just tiled my bathroom I found 2 things that really helped
- an elctric tile cutter with diamond disc ($60 from bunnings + discs off ebay from HK) - perfect cuts every time
- masking tape before silicon - perfect lines

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