I am really at a lose end here as after one month of tinkering I have just failed again to properly seal my kitchen sink in what should be a simple task.
I don't know what I am doing so I'll go over what I've done: My tap needed replacing and I did this, but then the drain pipes underneath were leaking, so I used some PTFE tape on the and stopped that, only to find that the seal around the sink had worn away and was letting water through.
The counter is laminated, but it's chip board beneath, the counter is around an inch think. The steel sink fits neatly into its place, everything seems fine, but the seal just doesn't work. I got some silicone from Wickes called "Kitchen & Bathroom Sealant Acrylic" (clear drying) (http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Kitchen+ ... l/p/243002).
In fact, just checking on their website now it seems their entire range is rated poorly and I should have read the reviews before purchasing! Th only thing I had to go on was advice from people in the store, if anybody could be found, and I was told it was fine.
The thing that confused me was that it stated it was "Idea for sealing between ... kitchen worktops and sinks", but stated on the reverse "It is not recommended for use where ... locations subject to continuous water immersion" and so I was confused as to how it could even do it's job? But assumed that this was just legalese in order to cover them.
Step 1: I checked a video online to see that I would need to remove the original sealant (or which there wasn't much left of) and used WD-40 to do so as it was reputed online to work as good as a dedicated substance (I can confirm this, but I have not tried the commercial substance):
video: "How to Caulk & Seal a Kitchen Sink on a Laminate Countertop _ Caulking Tips" (x10 URLs max)
Step 2: I masked the area around the sink basin edge and applied the silicone and smoothed it off, it had a nice clean finish to it. (IMG: https://cl.ly/10380T134611)
I left it to cure for three days, even through it only requested two. However, I noticed after five days I noticed that beneath the hard out skin that the silicone was reverting back to it's glutinous state! (IMG: https://cl.ly/2y46370I2Q1W)
In some places the sink was coming away from the surface, applying pressure to push it back into place!
Around the tap it used to be solid clear (IMG: https://cl.ly/1z2y1o400t1S), but that began to turn back to an opaque white before any other part of the sink area (IMG: https://cl.ly/2r3b0U3W2U0a)
Step 3: I then had to wait a couple of days for the area to dry and try again, but this time I really caked it on and scraped it under the sink's lip to make sure it went inside and sealed properly. (IMG: https://cl.ly/1p2m26450O2v) (IMG: https://cl.ly/2J1h3Q0k3933)
Step 4: After waiting four days I tried washing up and I finally got no leaks, everything seemed okay! (IMG: https://cl.ly/0i3P0k1U0d34) (IMG: https://cl.ly/3z1M1H1j4523)
However, now some four days after that I have sprung a leak and found that I could use my nail to get beneath the silicone seal on the top eft affected area. It is the area where the water will gather the most often and it seems that the silicone is not very waterproof: https://cl.ly/2G163I301l1M
I know my technique is not very good, I need some advice on that and I need to know what silicone to get please because I am fed up of this now after one month of trial and error!
