Have you ever picked at a tiny piece of wallpaper that was peeling up and before you knew what was happening, you had peeled the whole room? Or on a smaller scale, chipped and peeled of your nail polish? (Very bad for your nails, by the way….)
I was at the kitchen sink and I was suddenly really bothered by part of the caulked seal that was turning black (ew!) and was separating from the sink and the granite.
You could see where the water had gotten in and was lifting the seal.
It happens. When it does, it’s a simple fix.
Sure, I could ask Handsome Hubby to do it, but his Honey-Do List is already a mile long. The man works his cute behind off all day and I’d really rather not bother him with things I could do myself. (I’d rather give him tasks that involve electricity, heavy lifting or spiders…)
The first thing you need to do is remove the existing caulking. Take a utility knife and slit under and over the edge of the caulk. You can also use a small paring knife if you’re too lazy to walk out to the garage and look for one.
The old caulk should peel right on out. Keep at it until you get every little bit.
Once it’s out, clean and thoroughly dry the area.
There are the ginormous tubes you can get that go into that caulking gun, but personally I hate them. They’re unwieldy and the goo keeps dribbling out even after I let go of the trigger.
I like these little tubes. They’re easy to work with.
Be sure to use one specifically designed for kitchens or baths.
Snip off the end of the tube at an angle and start laying a bead of the caulk along the area.
Don’t try to be all prissy and perfect about it. The goal is to fill the crack with the goo.
Once you have applied a nice generous line of the caulk …
Get the tip of your finger wet and run it along the entire line. You will come up with a big blob of the goo on your finger. Wipe it off on a paper towel, get your finger wet and do it again.
After a swipe or two, it will look like this:
Messy and not good enough. Continue to get your finger wet, run it over the caulking, wipe it on a paper towel and repeat. Do one entire length of the sink at a time.
You’re done when it looks like this:
A nice clean edge, made completely with a wet fingertip.
You’ll need to let it dry for several hours, so keep the kids away. Drying time aside, this whole endeavor took me about 20 minutes. And that included looking for the tube of caulk out in the garage.
OK Tim the Tool-Man Taylor. Is there anything you can’t do?
Tee hee, I’m with Shawn…
also, you said this… goo keeps dribbling out even after I let go of the trigger.
Huh huh, huh….ala Beavis and Butthead. 🙂
I love you don’t bother your hubby for the small things…he has to deal with the bigger issues like spiders! Ha!
I am SO with you on the spider thing! Once again I am in awe of you…
I am impressed!! I have plunged toilets, removed grout, and a whole list of other things I thought I would never do. Somehow being a woman we have to wear lots of hats. I have never replaced caulk but I now thinking about my sink, I am pretty sure I need too. Thanks for showing us how!
omg, that looks like a million times better. Great…now I’m scared I’m going to have to go and look at mine!
Nice work! You could set yourself up a little handywoman business on the side — home repair AND decorating!
Looks great! Did you have fun at your sleepover?
XOXO
Jen
love the title-it made me have diet coke come out my nose…
I know a couple of sinks in my house that could use this treatment. Oh, and when I was little we had this 1/2 bath with the ugliest wall paper ever. I used to just sit and pick at it ALL of the time, until it was pretty much gone. Hey, I felt like I was doing my parents a favor and saving them on removal!
MAn, what can’t you do??? I am going around my house now to see if I can replace some caulk. Too bad the house is only 1 1/2 years old…..
~Becca
Great job 🙂 I’m the caulker here, hubby makes a mess! Must be his big man-hands…
VERY nice! I get such satisfaction doing the things that I could just as well ask St. Jim to do.
Good job and here are a couple of hints for you.
Before you start caulking run a piece of painters tape or masking tape just outside of the area to be filled. This is parallel to the line of grout you are running. Do this above and below where the caulk will go.
When you are done filling in the caulk and smoothing it with your finger just peel off the tape and you will have perfect edges to your work.
If you a caulking a bathtub you need to fill the tub with water so as to weight it down and make any gap as wide as possible. That way it won’t pull apart the seal when you do fill the tub for a bath later or have the weight of a person in the shower.
Thanks, girl. You are a wealth of knowledge!
I need to caulk my tub again. No way Hubs will even attempt it. He hires everything out.
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I’ve noticed that we’ve got a spot in our kitchen coming up…and now that I saw you do it…I think I can do it, too!
MiMi…get your mind out of the gutter!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…my idol! You are such a handy lady!
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
Good for you for tackling this “fun” project that makes everything look new. I have GOT to do this in my shower!
I got to this post via Pinterest. Actually, a different article on Pinterest and then I started browsing. Our guest bathtub looks AWFUL and I’ve been scared to really do anything with it. I hope this is as easy as you make it look because I’m trying it this weekend! 🙂