A caulking we will go...
...soon.
One can never caulk enough. :-) (and it is indeed easy)
If you don't intend to do a LOT of caulking, or are nervous about buying a caulking gun, don't buy a caulking gun.
Nowadays they make caulk in convenient squeeze tubes. I think these tubes cost about the same as a larger (caulk gun sized) tube, and you get less, BUT the advantages are that they usually have a plastic cap for sealing and you don't need an extra tool.
I will do a small project soon, like caulking around a sink and documenting it with pictures.
For now, though, do any of you remember my secret "number 2" blog which contained Christmas gift info and pics? I'm putting new stuff there.
posted by Tim B. @ 10:10 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Will the caulk I bought a long time ago still be good? Do I just go around the tub? Do I have to super clean or scrub or scrap old caulk off first? What if the old caulk is the only thing holding the shower doors in place? Think of me as an alien from a distant planet who knows nothing. Thank you.
Caulk has a shelf life. I don't know what it is, but if you've had it sitting around for months it's probably still good. If it has been around for YEARS, I'd just get new...it is cheap enough.
Not sure what you mean "around the tub." If you're meaning that you think you should caulk where the wall surround meets the tub, definitely yes.
Get it clean. I don't think you have to be able to brag "you could eat out of my bathtub" but it should be clean and DRY.
Remove as much old caulk as you can...then wipe clean again. OR, remove all caulk first, then clean ONCE.
You don't need a special caulk tool. Estimate the width of the crack you're going to caulk. Let's say it is 1/8th inch. Then cut off the tip of the caulk tube at an angle so it will squeeze out a "bead" (line) of caulk a little bigger than the width of the crack. Squeeze the line all around the tub and as close as you can get the caulk tube to the crack. Drag the tip slowly along the crack at the same time as squeezing the tube, in other words .
Then, fill a coffee cup with warm water and keep a couple of paper towels on hand. Dip your index finger in the water (I don't want you to freeze your finger...so use warm water. The caulk won't care.) and then blot your finger on the paper towel. You want a MOIST finger, not a DRIPPING finger.
Start in a corner and drag your finger along the caulk. You don't need to apply a lot of pressure, but keep a steady pace and push a LITTLE to force the bead to become a convex triangle. The roundness of your finger makes it convex. Much of the caulk will come off on your finger. Wipe that off on a paper towel. Each time you wipe off, dip and blot your finger again. Then start a little back from where you left off and continue. Each time you wipe caulk off your finger use a CLEAN area of paper towel. If you don't you will get caulk all over your finger. Not that it's bad, just annoying.
Once you've gone all the way around, look and see if you're satisfied. You can moisten and touch up places you don't like. Nothing says you can't squirt a little more caulk here and there and work that in. Just be gentle. You don't have to have an artist's touch, but a light touch is good.
I just got a good idea. You can practice using the old tube of caulk (unless it requires a caulk gun). Take two rectangular pieces of relatively stiff cardboard and tape them to form a "T". Just apply masking tape to one of the inner angles of the T. Practice caulking the opposite inner angle. Hold the vertical of the T in place while you apply caulk, then smooth with the opposite hand. Alternatively, you can place one piece of cardboard on a floor and the other piece on top of that, but against a wall, forming an "L". Then practice "caulking the L out of it" :-) This is just for practice and to give you a warm fuzzy without messing up your bathtub.
BTW, when you go get a tube of caulk, tell a salesperson WHERE you are using it. It comes in Clear and White. If you want to HIDE a crack, obviously you don't want clear (my idiot ex did that where the bathtub meets the vinyl floor). Caulk comes in various denominations such as Latex and Silicone. For a bathtub you want one that repels water...probably the silicone.
Keep us informed !!
You need to take a page from your father's book. Go down to the "Y" and teach a class. You are so good at explaining details.
Yeah! This is exactly what I needed--thanks. I just have one question--does it matter if ants and a ton of ant repellant are in the mix? Moist, not dripping wet and white silicone. Got it.
I think you're baiting me to see if I know that joke...
You could do the caulk job, then brag that your caulking is "disease resistant" because it is full of "anty-bodies."
Seriously, though, you might want to determine WHY you have so many ants before caulking. I would clean away any ants and repellant before caulking. I'm wondering if citrus based cleaners will repel them long enough to do the caulking.
I thought I had so many ants because I haven't caulked? Is that wrong? They seem to come in between the cracks between the tub and the tile. Are they going to be able to force their way through the caulk? Citris cleaner--good one.
Sorry, I wish my stupid house was a joke.
No, you have ants because they have found a comfortable place to live and eat, not because you didn't caulk.
The purpose of caulking it to keep moisture from penetrating. Moisture, over time, will destroy your framing members. Ants (and roaches) seem to enjoy damp, fibrous places. Just turn over a wet piece of cardboard in Miami and you'll know what I mean. So one caulks to keep the moisture out. That makes it less hospitable for the varmints.
It would be great to figure out where the ants get in. Then you make that place inhospitable by spraying ant killer and caulking up the cracks. Another thing that can be done is to "bait" the ants to go elsewhere. Put some small kitchen scraps around the perimeter of the house, then over time move the scraps a few inches away, then further away. Add to the scraps as necessary.
This method, I have heard, is good for "feeding" termites. Give the termites an easy meal ELSEWHERE and they leave the house alone. That is why crappy houses with scraps of wood around the yard always seem to stand forever, while the million dollar homes need termite tents.
We have possum, racoons, rats and coyotes in our neighborhood and to hear the dog barking at night (from inside the house) they seem to particularly like my yard. We do have all that great rotting fruit on the ground. I think we get ants in the rain, so maybe their readily available food source is washed away. I have the house checked regularly for termites--before I purchased it, they tented it and killed a family of racoons in the attic. I think my house was on the critter's best vacation list prior to that. Maybe the ants didn't get the memo about the new owners.
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