Who books bathroom caulking with us
Bathroom caulking is the last trade through a new bathroom and the first thing an owner notices when it fails. Australian Caulking Experts seals bathrooms for builders finishing apartments and houses, and for homeowners whose silicone has gone black, split or pulled away from the tiles.
A single ensuite gets the same care as a building full of them. On larger jobs the bathrooms sit inside a wider internal caulking scope, and on renovations they are often booked together with a kitchen caulking visit.
Joints we seal in a bathroom
Bathroom corners and junctions move, so each needs a flexible bead rather than grout:
- Shower walls, corners and the junction between wall and floor tiles
- Vanity tops and basins where they meet the wall
- Bath edges, including where the hob meets the tiles
- Tile-to-tile joints at internal corners and changes of plane
- Shaving cabinets and joinery fixed to tiled walls
- Floor perimeters and internal movement joints
- Toilets, powder rooms and laundries on the same visit
Substrates range from ceramic tiles to natural stone, marble, microcement and Venetian plaster.
Silicone that suits a wet area
Bathrooms are warm and wet every day, so these joints get a sanitary-grade silicone, flexible and mould-resistant. One example from our products range, Alseal AS-206, is a neutral-cure silicone that its maker describes as mildew resistant, tested against ASTM G21 for fungal resistance, and rated for plus or minus 25% joint movement.
A rigid filler cracks where silicone flexes, and our sealant comparison explains why.
How bathroom caulking in Sydney fits around other trades
On a new build or renovation, sealing comes near the end, in this order:
- Tiling and grouting finished, with the grout given time to cure
- Vanity, bath, shower screen and accessories fitted
- Joints cleaned of dust, grout haze and moisture
- Colour selected against the grout or stone, then the bead applied and tooled
- The room left clean, with the silicone untouched until it has cured
Our guide to curing times shows when the next trades can follow.
Pricing one bathroom or a whole development
Owners can attach photos of the tired joints to our website form, so the bathroom caulking is scoped before anyone visits. Builders' bathrooms are priced from the drawings or a takeoff, or after we walk the site. New bathrooms in a package are usually quoted by the lineal metre; a fiddly or remedial one may run on an hourly or day rate instead.
At Dwell in Bondi Beach, a 50-unit development for Stargate Property, we sealed every bathroom and wet area in colours matched to the marble and stone, finishing ahead of schedule. Quotes come back within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Do you do bathroom caulking in Rouse Hill?
Yes. We do bathroom caulking across all areas of Sydney, including Western Sydney and the north-west, so Rouse Hill homes and building projects are covered on the same terms as anywhere else in the city. Our Rouse Hill caulking page covers the other work we do in the area.
Is bathroom caulking the same as waterproofing?
No. Waterproofing is a separate trade: a waterproofing membrane is applied under the tiles before they are laid and keeps water out of the structure. Caulking is the flexible sealant at the visible surface joints. It does not replace or repair a membrane. If water is getting through a wall, call a waterproofer first.
Can new silicone go over the old bead?
It should not. New silicone does not bond properly to old silicone, and any mould left underneath keeps growing. We cut out the old sealant, clean the joint back to the tile or stone, let it dry, then apply a fresh bead. Our article on the signs of failing caulk explains when a bathroom is due, and larger rectification jobs fall under remedial caulking.
How long does bathroom silicone last?
A well-applied bead of good silicone can stay sound for 10 to 20 years, but in a bathroom ventilation, shower use, cleaning products and joint movement decide how long it really lasts. A bead that shrinks, discolours or lifts at one edge has reached the end of its life, whatever its age.