Silicone finishing is one of those jobs that looks straightforward until you’re actually doing it. Too much pressure and the sealant smears. Too little and the joint looks uneven. Corners are trickier still, often ending up lumpy or messy no matter how carefully you work. For anyone new to the trade or home DIYers tackling a bathroom renovation themselves, it’s the kind of task that’s often tempting to put off or hand over to someone more experienced.

That’s exactly where Heena Kerai found herself. At 21, she’s in the early stages of learning plumbing with Access Training while simultaneously studying at university, and is already building a following on Instagram at @heenas_plumbing, where she shares honest, relatable content about her life as a young woman in the trades. Her goal is simple: to show other women that plumbing is an achievable, rewarding career. Silicone finishing was something she wasn’t very experienced with and would in the past often leave it to her dad.

“As someone new to the trade, I would usually leave silicone work to my dad to make sure it looks neat,” she says. We sent Heena a Metex Silicone Block Pro to try out on the job – here’s what she found:

A Tool Built Around the Fiddly Bits

The Metex Silicone Block Pro is a compact finishing tool that shapes silicone sealant into a clean, consistent bead. It’s quick and simple to use: Just spray the block with soapy water to avoid the sealant sticking to it, and swipe it along the joint. The shaped edges produce either a 4mm or 6mm bead depending on which side you use. And at just 25mm wide, it fits behind many taps and into tight spots, and glides cleanly over grout lines between tiles without dipping in and leaving dents in the silicone joint.

The “Pro” version adds something that anyone who’s wrestled with a corner joint will appreciate: a redesigned corner profile built specifically for 3-way internal corners, where two tiled walls meet a bath or shower tray. It’s the detail that makes the biggest practical difference.

The Part That Usually Goes Wrong

Heena put the block to use and noticed the difference straight away.

“Compared to anything I’ve used for silicone finishing before, it felt a lot easier and more controlled. Because I’m still learning, I usually wouldn’t feel confident doing silicone myself, but this made it much more manageable.”

It was the corners where she felt the biggest improvement.

“I used it on corner joints and it helped keep everything neat and even. I think that’s where I noticed the biggest difference, as corners are usually the hardest part for me.”

For Heena, the result went beyond a tidy joint. As someone actively working to build her skills in the trade, completing a task she hadn’t previously felt confident about was a genuine milestone. “Using the Silicone Block allowed me to achieve a clean, finished result myself, which was a really rewarding experience.”

Worth It for Beginners and Experienced Hands Alike

Heena was candid about where the tool sits in a professional kit. For very detailed or awkward spaces she feels more specialist tools may still have a place, and she’d like to see different sizes available down the line. But for everyday silicone work on baths, sinks and shower trays, her verdict was clear.

“I would definitely use it going forward and recommend it, especially for beginners like me. It gives a cleaner finish and builds confidence.”

If you’re an apprentice finding your feet, a seasoned plumber looking to speed up the finishing stage, or even a DIYer who wants a result they’re actually proud of, the Silicone Block Pro is worth keeping in the kit bag.

Follow Heena’s journey into plumbing on Instagram: @heenas_plumbing

Find out more about the Metex Silicone Block Pro at metextools.com

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