In a hotel, a bathroom with black sealant or a gap around the bath shows in guest reviews quickly. But every room taken out of use for maintenance is a room that can’t be sold. Resealing hotel bathrooms is about balancing the two: doing the job properly, once, while keeping rooms out of use for as short a time as possible. This guide covers how to plan it.
Why hotel sealant fails
- Constant use. Showers and baths are used daily, often several times.
- Intensive cleaning. Housekeeping cleans every bathroom thoroughly between guests. Strong products and abrasive pads wear sealant down.
- Humidity. Guests don’t always use the extractor fan, and bathrooms stay damp.
- Quick patch repairs. A new bead run over the old one looks fine for a few weeks, then lifts and goes mouldy again.
See our guide to cleaning mould from silicone for why cleaning alone often can’t fix it.
Working room by room
The simplest way to limit disruption is to work through rooms in a planned order that fits occupancy. In practice that means:
- Agreeing a list of rooms and an order with the operations or maintenance team
- Grouping rooms on the same floor or wing
- Timing work around check-outs, so each room is resealed after the guest leaves
- Allowing the sealant’s full cure time, usually around 24 hours, before the bath or shower is used again
Our commercial sealant service plans room-by-room programmes for hotels. Out-of-hours working can be arranged where it helps.
Working with housekeeping
Housekeeping is key to making a reseal last. It helps to agree:
- Which rooms are being resealed, so they are not cleaned or let before the sealant has cured
- A clear sign or note in each room telling staff not to use the bath or shower until the cure time has passed
- Cleaning products that are suitable for silicone, and soft cloths rather than scouring pads
Need it done properly? Mr Mastic covers the South East, London and Scotland, with a one-year guarantee on every job. Call or email for a quick quote.
Avoiding repeat failures
The key is doing it properly the first time. All of the old sealant comes out. The joint is cleaned, any mould treated and the joint dried. Baths are filled before sealing, so the bead goes on with the bath at its heaviest. A single bead of anti-fungal sanitary silicone is laid and tooled.
It is also worth checking grout while rooms are out of use. If grout is cracked, regrouting and resealing in the same visit avoids taking the room out twice. Our guide to regrouting or resealing explains when both are needed.
Where we work
We cover London, the South East and all of Scotland. That includes the many hotels around Gatwick Airport, next to our base in Crawley. Every job carries our one-year guarantee.
Planning ahead
Hotels that reseal on a planned cycle, rather than waiting for complaints, usually find it easier to manage. A walk-round of a sample of rooms shows how quickly sealant is failing and where. That helps to decide whether a full programme is needed or whether a smaller number of rooms can be done at a time.
It is also worth keeping a simple record of which rooms were done and when, so the next round can be planned from it.
Quick answers
How long does each hotel bathroom take?
A typical bath or shower reseal takes a couple of hours, plus the cure time before it can be used.
Can rooms be let the same night?
The bath or shower should stay dry for the cure time, usually around 24 hours. Plan the order so rooms can stay out of use for that time.
Can you work outside normal hours?
Out-of-hours working can be arranged on commercial jobs, including hotels.
Related services
More advice
- Sealant in Commercial Washrooms
- Can You Clean Black Mould Out of Silicone?
- Looking After New Sealant: Aftercare Tips
- All advice
This guide is general information about sealant work. It isn’t legal, fire-safety or structural advice; for those, speak to a qualified professional.