# Painted Silicone



## reptinate (Aug 16, 2013)

Just a quick question. I sealed the gaps all the way around the inside of my enclosure with silicone and then painted the silicone a couple times. Should I now seal it with something too or will it be fine the way it is? 

Thanks


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## Pythoninfinite (Aug 16, 2013)

Why did you paint it? Many silicones can't be painted anyway, and why would you need to paint it at all? What sort of silicone?


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## reptinate (Aug 16, 2013)

I was going to get the aquarium one but it's clear and I didn't want to have to paint it. I got a different silicone that was white, but after I put it on, it looked yellow, so I painted it white. It says it is paintable. It's Selleys 3 in 1.

Anyone know?


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## Lawra (Aug 16, 2013)

What did you paint it with? You can get silicone paints.


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## reptinate (Aug 16, 2013)

Normal water-based interior paint. Looks fine, I just don't know whether the paint needs sealing or not.


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## jaspy (Aug 16, 2013)

It should be fine, you have already sealed the enclosure once, (the silicon) so you're really just painting over a seal and it shouldn't need to be done again.


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## Lawra (Aug 16, 2013)

Silicone is squishy so normal paint doesn't stay on it and will peel off. Not sure if sealing it would help. I've never painted silicone myself with anything other than special silicone paint which is waterproof and requires no extra sealing.


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## Pitttownboy (Aug 16, 2013)

Selleys 3in one is not silicone it is a gap filler like caulk. So yes it's paintable and yes I would be sealing it again after paint dries.


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## africancichlidau (Aug 16, 2013)

Flexible gap sealer has a silicone component to allow it to flex with more infirm surfaces and Lawra is correct.


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## reptinate (Aug 17, 2013)

Dammit! So what should I do? Just leave it, seal it, try and take the paint off and use silicone paint instead or just try and paint over it again with silicone paint? I just assumed normal paint would be fine. Didn't know you need a certain type. And it said its an adhesive, sealer and filler, so thought it would be good. What silicone do you use? All that work for nothing!


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## Lawra (Aug 17, 2013)

reptinate said:


> Dammit! So what should I do? Just leave it, seal it, try and take the paint off and use silicone paint instead or just try and paint over it again with silicone paint? I just assumed normal paint would be fine. Didn't know you need a certain type. And it said its an adhesive, sealer and filler, so thought it would be good. What silicone do you use? All that work for nothing!



Not necessarily. I looked up selleys 3 in 1 and it does state it's paintable as long as paints water based. I also looked up painting caulk, and it states the surface requires roughing with an a solvent before painting. 

Since you've painted it with interior water based paint I'd suggest sealing, however I'm not experienced in that area. Pondtite is popular from what I've read in this site. 

In future, remember acrylic paint can be effectively mixed in with silicone and there are silicone paints out there in a range of colours. 

Hope this helps 

Edit: sorry I forgot to answer one of your questions. I use plain old clear silicone. Anything that says "neutral cure" on it and doesn't have any moisture or mould resistance in it is fine. I find using masking tape on either side and a thin bead of silicone smoothed out with your finger works well (remove masking tape before spreading with finger) then wait for it to dry and paint with silicone paint - or stick foam with bondcrete and render over.


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## reptinate (Aug 17, 2013)

Thanks, Lawra. I was hoping to get the snakes in there this weekend. Looks like that won't happen. Would putting varnish over it work? 
I'm annoyed I didn't do it right, and I kinda want to just take off the 3 in 1 and use the aquarium one. Would that be hard? Should have just went with the clear aquarium one. I ended up having to paint the thing anyway, lol.


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## Lawra (Aug 17, 2013)

reptinate said:


> Thanks, Lawra. I was hoping to get the snakes in there this weekend. Looks like that won't happen. Would putting varnish over it work?
> I'm annoyed I didn't do it right, and I kinda want to just take off the 3 in 1 and use the aquarium one. Would that be hard? Should have just went with the clear aquarium one. I ended up having to paint the thing anyway, lol.



Is it possible for you to post a pic of where you've siliconed? I've got a good idea of what advice to give but a pic would really help 

Edit: it can still happen  never give up. There are solutions to ever problem.


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## reptinate (Aug 21, 2013)

Sorry for the late reply, Lawra. Here's a couple pics. I'm thinking of either just leaving it the way it is or sealing it with something, and see how it goes. Though I don't know what to seal it with. I think it would be a lot of work trying to remove it from all four enclosures. But what was your idea?


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## Lawra (Aug 21, 2013)

reptinate said:


> Sorry for the late reply, Lawra. Here's a couple pics. I'm thinking of either just leaving it the way it is or sealing it with something, and see how it goes. Though I don't know what to seal it with. I think it would be a lot of work trying to remove it from all four enclosures. But what was your idea?
> 
> 
> View attachment 295407
> View attachment 295408



My idea was to just get a paint scraper and get rid of the excess so there's not as much surface area to be able to peel and the yellowing wouldn't be noticeable. I personally would leave it and see how it goes. I'm assuming you'll run the enclosure for a while before putting anything into it, so just see how it reacts when you rub your finger over it or disinfect it.


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## bigjoediver (Aug 21, 2013)

Doubt the paint will peel off, what you might see is what looks like cracking where the sealer moves further than the paint can stretch but the seal behind it will still be ok. As for aquarium silicon it's a bit of overkill in this application and takes ages for the smell to disappear as it is acetic cure.


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## Pythoninfinite (Aug 21, 2013)

Selley's 3 in 1 is a paintable silicone, and is very good at what it is supposed to do. It's a solvent-based product, unlike the usual acid or neutral cure silicones which cannot be successfully painted. I've always found the best product to use for this application is white kitchen & bathroom silicone sealant - a pure white neutral cure silicone with reasonable adhesion to melamine. Because it's white you don't need to paint, and the joints are almost invisible. Being neutral cure you can use the enclosure the following day without any problems.

Jamie


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