Failed silicone is the most common small defect we are called to in Tralee, and it is almost never just cosmetic. Once a bath, shower tray or worktop seal splits or lifts, water tracks behind the tile and into the substrate, and the black staining you can see is the last symptom rather than the first. Kerry's high average humidity makes it worse: bathrooms in coastal homes around Blennerville, Spa and Fenit, and any north-facing bathroom or utility room, stay damp far longer between uses, so mould colonises a tired seal in months rather than years.
Replacement only works if the old seal comes out completely. We cut and scrape out every trace of the previous silicone, strip the residue with a solvent remover, then dry and sterilise the joint before anything new goes in — new sealant applied over old film or over a damp joint will lift again, which is why so many DIY reseals fail within a season. Where mould has already gone past the joint into grout or plasterboard we treat it rather than seal over it, and if the damage is structural we will tell you before we quote; see mould treatment in Kerry.
We use sanitary-grade, fungicidal silicone matched to the joint: high-movement neutral-cure sealant around acrylic baths and shower trays that flex under load, and standard sanitary grade on tile-to-tile and worktop joints. Colour is matched to the grout or the sanitaryware rather than defaulting to white. Joints are tooled to a consistent concave profile so water runs off instead of sitting on a ledge, and we leave clear guidance on cure time — usually 24 hours before the shower or bath is used again.
A typical bathroom is a same-day visit, which makes this a natural fit for rental turnovers and short-term lets. For landlords and agents in Tralee and Killarney we bundle silicone replacement with regrouting, tile and grout cleaning or an end of tenancy clean so the unit is inspection-ready after one appointment rather than three.
- Old sealant fully cut out, solvent-stripped, dried and sterilised — never sealed over.
- Fungicidal sanitary-grade silicone, colour-matched to grout or sanitaryware.
- Neutral-cure high-movement sealant on flexing acrylic baths and shower trays.
- Same-day bathroom visits, bundled with regrouting or tile cleaning for rental turnovers.