Removing sealant between bathroom tiles and ceiling

[seanf]

Hi All,

Any tips please on how to remove cracked/damaged sealant between bathroom tiles and the ceiling without damaging either?



Sean

 

[ChaiLatte]

What sort of sealant is it?

There are three suspects in this case: grout, silicone or caulk.

Why do you necessarily need to remove it? Just over-coat it with a slightly wider bead of good quality caulk and tool it nicely.

A knife of this style will do it as you can extend the blade and it is flexible:

https://www.toolstation.com/minotaur-snap-off-knife/p49449

A thin piece of metal held against the ceiling will stop the knife gouging it. Something like the widest one of this set would do:

https://www.toolstation.com/prep-euro-filling-knife-set/p98277

 

[seanf]

Thank you for that. I should have said it is either silicone or caulk, not sure which. I am thinking of removing it just to be as tidy as possible in fixing the issue

Sean

 

[Bingy man]

Paint will not adhere to silicone whereas most caulks are over paintable. I’ve always grouted right up to the ceiling line when tiling if you do need to remove it then a sharp knife is reqd to carefully cut along the ceiling and then along the tiles . It’s not g t he easiest but a lot of patience will see you through the little bits will take forever..

 

[Fergie 307]

Easiest way I find for something like this is a single sided razor blade. They can bend just enough to be held flat against the surface, like your ceiling, then just pull it along the joint. Fiddly but makes a very good job of it.

 

[niall Y]

If it is silicone then you can buy a solvent remover. Good if you need to protect surfaces. Also, there is an abundance of silicone removing tools out there.

 

[Ollie78]

I concur with the razor blade method.
The silicone remover stuff I tried was a bit like spreading strawberry jam on it till it softens up at which point it still needs to be physically scraped off and cleaned up. I wouldn`t use it again.

 

[Bingy man]

Silicone remover only works if you remove the majority and even then it’s hit and miss as above razor blade , sharp Stanley blade etc .,

 

[seanf]

Thanks all. Looks like the consensus is to just gently scrape away if it needs to be removed, so I'll have a closer look at it soon

Sean