Caulk it Up

Our bathroom makeover involved a lot of caulking. A lot. I used 2 tubes worth of caulk and my fingers were very sore from squeezing the caulk gun. We had to caulk all around the floor because it was laminate as well as all around the trim on both the top (to hide the gap between the wall and the trim since the walls aren't perfectly straight) and bottom (to keep any water from getting underneath since it's a bathroom). Not to mention all the caulking around that new vanity top we had to install.

After all that caulking, I'm still hardly an expert. But I wanted to share a few tips I learned about getting the best results from your caulk job.

1. Use the right caulk for the application. Make sure you are using the correct type based on where you are caulking, interior or exterior. Caulk can be latex(acrylic), 100% silicone, or a mix of the two. Latex caulk is easier to apply and clean up and is also paintable. However, 100% silicone caulk will not shrink or crack, is flexible, and is more durable. There are also many other special types of caulk for different uses. We used 100% silicone caulk because we needed something durable and flexible so that our laminate floor could move freely.

2. Pick the right color. Most caulk is white or clear, but there are other colors available. Remember some caulk can be painted, some cannot.

3. Use painter's tape to mark off the area you are going to caulk. Put a line of tape both above and below the area to be caulked. This is easiest way to get a smooth, even caulk line!

4. Don't cut too much off the tip so that your opening of the caulk bottle isn't too big or you will have too much caulk coming out at once which equals a sticky mess.

5. After applying your caulk smooth a finger along the caulk line and then remove the painter's tape before the caulk begins to set.

6. Have some paper towels or a sponge and bucket of water handy for cleaning up all that caulk that ends up in random places you don't want it to be.

7. After the caulk has set, a utility knife comes in handy for scraping off stray bits of caulk you missed cleaning up before. Like the spots on the side of the bathtub. Or the sink. Or in the middle of the floor. Or the stray bits of caulk your cats find and try to eat.

Hopefully these tips will help you get a nice clean caulk line like this: