Winter’s coming – time to check your bathroom and kitchen grouting and silicone sealing

Autumn is here – and we have just a week or two before the real winter season hits us in Cape Town. It’s therefore important to use this time to finish up any last minute maintenance projects around your home that will prepare your plumbing for winter weather.

Check any exterior pipes, fix leaks and stow away any garden hoses away. Double check your home for leaks and cracks where the rain can enter causing flooding or water damage.
And so – we naturally go to the bathroom and kitchen –where we’re most comfortable – and here we’d like to talk to you about grouting. Grouting adheres your bathroom tile to the walls, floors or ceilings. It traditionally comes in white and now in other colours – but it absorbs water, mould and mildew because it’s a porous material! In order to protect your bathroom or kitchen grout from discolouration and bacteria, it is essential to clean and dry and seal your grouting regularly.
Beta Bathrooms Specialist Resurfacing Company can come in to do that for you – we clean and treat the mould and mildew spores and re-grout the area – leaving it bacteria free and pristine clean. Remember – mildew and mould contribute hugely to allergies and can really cause underling water damage in the walls.

Silicone on the other hand is a sealant –provides a permanent flexible watertight seal for general purpose sealing. It is specifically used in the bathroom and kitchen for sealing the tiles and bath against water damage. Silicone can also be used to close small gaps and cracks – and it can seal plumbing fixtures to prevent mould and mildew growth.
If you want to ensure that your bathroom is winter proof – here are a few tips to get the bathroom sealed and ready to take on all the damp it can muster:

1. The toilet: Using silicone around the base of a toilet will help to stabilize the toilet and keep it from shifting from its position. If you notice that the silicone around the base of your toilet is cracking or missing in spots, use a tube of plumbing silicone and re-apply.
2. The shower: To prevent mould and mildew from growing on the various parts of your shower, use silicone to seal gaps and spaces around the fixtures and trim. This will prevent water from seeping behind the shower walls.
3. The bathroom basin: Silicone is used to keep the bathroom basin adhered to the vanity cabinet, and to keep the back splash securely affixed to the bathroom wall. These areas are especially susceptible to water damage because of the splashing and dripping that occurs while the bathroom basin is in use.
4. Kitchen Sink: In the kitchen, silicone is one of the key materials for preventing water damage. It can be used to create a secure seal around the sink where it attaches to the counter. Water damage in the kitchen can lead to mildew and mould growth, which can cause an unsanitary environment for meal preparation and food storage.

During these next few weeks of autumn, create some time to inspect the kitchen and bathrooms in your home for deteriorating silicone and grouting around your plumbing fixtures. When the winter weather hits and you’re dealing with heavy rainfall and in Cape Town – heavy winds, this extra maintenance will limit the chances of water damage to your home. If you’d like any assistance or advice in removing, and killing the mildew and mould spores and re-grouting between your tiles – then just give me a call – Stephen Lambrick, Beta Bathrooms Resurfacing Specialist Company – Don’t replace. Resurface.