OT - Bathroom sealant and gypsm walls

[AMc]

For aesthetic reasons there are no splashbacks between our new bathroom sinks and the new plasterboard walls with gypsum skim.

The gypsum walls were misted with Travis P trade emulsion then much later the plumber applied sealant between the back edge of the sink and the wall.

The bond between the sealant and the sink is much stronger than the bond between the trade emulsion and the plaster.
The sealant has peeled back pulling off the layer of paint, leaving a gap and bare plaster. The plaster gets soaked when turning taps on and off and more paint comes off.

We used a Little Greene washable paint in one bathroom and this has come off in great flakes as the trade emulsion underneath comes away, again leaving bare plaster.

On a side note an attempt to wipe a spill off a bathroom wall has taken all the trade emulsion off the wall there too so I clearly need to use something more durable in all the bathrooms I haven't already painted with suitable paint.

I obviously need to strip the sealant round the sinks and some of the wall paint but I'm undecided how to make it right.

I need to strip back to bare plaster then...
1 - Seal the plaster with PVA and overpaint with washable bathroom paint then apply sealant around the sink.
2 - Paint the plaster with washable bathroom paint then apply sealant.
3 - Apply sealant then paint the plaster with washable bathroom paint.

I can see positives and negatives with all 3 approaches.

Do any of you lovely people know which of these is likely to be most durable?

 

[AMc]

32 views and not a single opinion?

 

[LadyArowana]

I think there is a reason most sinks and basins have splashbacks, but felt it wasn't a helpful opinion to voice.

 

[Penners]

AMc - frankly I think you're batting on a losing wicket. Will your aesthetic plan really not allow you to tile the area behind the sink? Or perhaps affix a piece of glass?

When it comes to splashback materials/patterns/colours, there's such a wealth of choice that I can't help feeling there must be something out there to give you an acceptable solution to this problem.

By the way, I certainly don't think this topic is OT.

 

[AMc]

If it were my aesthetic plan then there would be tiles, but it isn't so I'm trying to do the best job within the constraints of the brief
I'm hoping that washable paint and a new mastic seal will be serviceable, my concern is which materials will bond to each other most strongly - the sealant and the bathroom paint have so far shown they are stronger then emulsion - I don't want to redo it all and end up in the same place again

 

[Penners]

I'm trying to do the best job within the constraints of the brief

Say no more. I entirely understand.

I don't want to redo it all and end up in the same place again.

I wonder whether a sealant strip might have less tendency to pull the paint off than mastic would. I have no idea whether this is the case or not, but I thought it worth suggesting.

Alternatively, just do a quick repeat of what you did before. The result would be the same, and you might then be able to get the brief re-thought by higher authority. :wink:

 

[AMc]

Unfortunately the sinks are very curvy at the side edges so I don't think I could use sealant strips - they're not that flexible are they?
I think that's the main reason behind not putting a line of tiles behind them as it would look slightly odd.

The prospect of removing all the mastic off 4 sinks then scraping paint and reapplying it all again once is dreadful enough without sabotaging myself into doing it again but it is something that occurred to me more than once I really hate doing the same job twice.

 

[LadyArowana]

The prospect of removing all the mastic off 4 sinks then scraping paint and reapplying it all again once is dreadful enough without sabotaging myself into doing it again but it is something that occurred to me more than once I really hate doing the same job twice.

Might the designer be a little more open to changing the brief if she ( I'm assuming it's a she ) had to help with the rectification work?

 

[Penners]

I'm assuming it's a she

I don't think any of us is in any doubt whatsoever about that! :roll:

 

[AMc]

The division of labour is quite clear at the moment - my partner makes all the money and I spend it on making the house gradually nicer until we can claim to have "finished" at which point I'll have to find a proper job - hopefully that won't necessitate relocating but it's always a nagging background worry.

 

[Moo]

When it comes to tiling round basins (especially curvy ones) I like to get the walls (and floor, come to that) tiled before the 'sanitary ware' goes in.
But then I'm not the world's most expert tiler, and find nibbling away at curves mind-numbingly frustrating.

 

[AMc]

It's not they couldn't be tiled, but the curvy nature of the sinks against straight lines would look awful.
It looks like I'll have to make my best guess - the way the weather is I can't paint windows so perhaps this job will get to the top of the to do list soon.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, it sounds very tricky. Was it you who got the antique fittings from Norwich? I don't have any answers I'm afraid, but an antique or just fancy mirror hung over the tiles draws the eye away, as does tiling the whole wall up to picture rail height. Using the travertine makes it just look like a stone block wall.

We did this in our London bathroom.

But I can't see yours so that might be no help at all - apologies if so.

 

[Moo]

Can you get that travertine marble from cheap places like Topps Tiles?
My little (2m square) shower rooms are in desperate need of a make-over!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Yes, I'm sure we paid around £40 a square metre for that stuff but I might be wrong. It was around 8 years ago though; stuff's gone up so much since then.

Lots of natural stone and marble at Topps - around £70 a metre.
http://www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod8758/section1173/Prestige-Stone-Nimbus-Limestone-45x30cm.html

Our bathroom designer advised on the placement of the tiles to save money - not round the loo, just in the shower ( above bath) up to 3/4 height on walls, floor the same, and also wrapped up the bath panel from the floor, to make the floor appear bigger.

It's a contemporary look though, I'm not sure I'd go for that now. I fancy a 30s style bathroom, black and white tiles, 30s shape sink and roll top bath - all quite minimal, for me.

It just depends on the house - with the bathroom being right by the front door here I think it's got to have a period feel, especially to match the 30s loo we have on the other side of the hall. If it were at more of a distance on another floor I'd feel more free to go contemporary.

 

[Moo]

the curvy nature of the sinks against straight lines would look awful.

Perhaps Gareth could tell us when tiles were first used in bathrooms.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

At least as early as the first half of the eighteenth century (and I'd have thought a bit earlier than that), as for example in this tiled plunge bath in the Water Tower in the grounds of Carshalton House in Surrey. There are country house examples of similar date:
http://www.carshaltonwatertower.co.uk/bath.html
So I expect tiled splashbacks have been around as long as mass-produced "modern" plumbed bathrooms.

 

[Moo]

Thanks, Gareth.

So it would seem that in the days when curvy bathroom fittings were the norm they weren't too bothered about the aesthetics of curves v. straight lines.

A thought:
Have you considered using mosaic tiles?

 

[Penners]

tiled plunge bath in the Water Tower in the grounds of Carshalton House in Surrey

Does history relate whether His Lordship's bathwater was afterwards piped to the servants' quarters for imbibement?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I wonder whether quite the opposite might have occurred if His Lordship was not a model employer...