Type/colour of sealant??

Would anyone know the type of sealant commonly used by builders to seal the edge of floor tiles to skirting or kitchen kickboards? Our house is about 4 yrs old and we had to remove the kickboard recently to fix the dishwasher. The sealant around the entire kitchen is a kind of putty colour & is more like a hard plastic than rubber/silicone. Since replacing the kickboard, it has warped due to the dishwasher leaking & there is now a quarter inch gap which needs filled. Only problem is that I dont know what the builders used. We tried the regular 'white' sealant and it looked terrible -stuck out a mile. The other options seem to be 'cream', 'ivory' etc - which is isnt either - but dont even know if its silicone??

Does anyone know if there is a particular product that most builders would be using??

thanks

It might be caulk.
Leo

Thanks Leo - but what the difference between caulk & silicone sealant? I googled it, and cant seem to see a difference?

It wouldn't be usual in my opinion to 'seal' any gaps between the floor and skirtings or kickboards... the skirtings or kickboards should have been installed very closely to the floor, and any remaining gaps would usually be left.


Caulk is just different to silicone.. perhaps it's an acrylic compund but it'll be more complex than that.. .

First Google result
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-caulk.htm

There are also mixes of caulk and silicone in the one tube.. this can be used anywhere you can use caulk, but not as a replacement for silicone.

Silicone is used to produce waterproof seals.. in kitchens and bathrooms. Some tubes of silicone have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal stuff inside for use in bathrooms.

Caulk is used to fill gaps between furniture and walls for example, or around door frames, or along the top edge of badly fitted skirtings.

There are other things in those tubes (mastic tubes)... like waterproof sealent, for sealing around the outside of windows, or whereever... these might be neither caulk nor silicone but it doesn't really matter what the stuff is as long as it works in the way you want it to.

You can use any of the above really... if the colour is ok... but as I say, I don't think gaps like you describe should be filled unless you have to... and it appears as if you have to if there's an unexplained 6mm gap. Caulk would be the most suitable.. silicone is too sticky and messy, you don't need it's waterproofing qualities... and obviously more expensive weather sealent is un-necessary.


Just try a paint shop who should have many colours.

Caulk is acrylic based, so is a plastic rather than silicone. It's commonly used as an internal filler as it is easy to use, somewhat flexible once dry, and takes paint well.

Sounds like some of the "no nails/panel adhesive" products if its a grey putty colour

Don't know if you have B&Q over there, but they sell Decorators Caulk. It works very much as Leo describes.

Match the colour of the plinth to a paint first. Then mix the paint with the caulk ( painters mate) 10% paint 90% caulk. This will work, however your plinth should have had a plinth seal. If you go to any of the German kitchen suppliers they might have some.