OK, whenever I watch someone who knows what they are doing, they lay down a straight bead of caulk and then they smooth it out with their finger and it looks wonderful and it stays secure for years.
When I caulk, it comes out unevenly and then when I try to smooth it in, it just sticks to my finger and pulls away from where it is supposed to be and becomes a mess. One time, about a week later my young son just pulled the whole string of week-old caulk away from where it was. (And then hid the evidence of his crime by flushing it down the toilet. Fortunately, with no ill-effects that time) I can’t help but think that wouldn’t have been possible except for poor application on my part.
I can see how applying a straight bead can be a matter of prac tice, but what is the secret with the smoothing?
It tried it with my finger dry, and with my finger wet.
Are certain types of caulk easier to work with then others?
I’ve found silicone caulk to be the most difficult to work with. Vinyl caulks have worked better for me, it’s a thinner material that seeps into voids and forms a smoother surface and doesn’t have a glossy surface that stands out against the surrounding material. I wrap my finger with plastic wrap and then wet that (the wetting part may be pointless). It’s a matter of practice too, I’m about to caulk a new shower unit and the last seam will come out much better than the first.
I don’t use the wet finger method, it seems wasteful, messy, and inconsistant. But I can usually get pretty nice slightly raised beads by carefully cutting the caulking tube tip at 45-60 degrees from the axis (pretty pointy) with the exit hole < 1/8". Water soluble caulk shrinks as it drys and retracts into corners some anyway. Hold the caulking gun firmly into the corner that’s being caulked and keep your eye on the outflowing caulk. Maintain a constant squeeze on the caulking gun trigger and use the release trigger to stop flow, not just as a way to remove an empty tube.
I think I have used the scraper tools (maybe an old table knife) to get rounded corners with silicone caulk. I left the raised excess beyond the radius and pulled it off after the caulk cured.
As noted: the angle of the cut on the nozzle and the angle at which you hold it is crucial. Another key part: As you run the nozzle along the line, you need a bit of a bulge of caulk ahead of the nozzle. The nozzle then pushes the bead into the seam.
The sharp tip of the nozzle is closest to the seam. The obtuse part of the tip is raised a little. You can even shape the sharp tip of the nozzle slightly to make a self leveling “tool” depending on your application.
It’s hard to explain but surely there are videos out there.
The fact your son was able to pull out your last attempt makes it pretty clear you had poor adhesion and very little penetration. All the smoothing in the world won’t fix that.
Sounds like you didn’t expend the effort to get 100% of the old stuff out of there. Interestingly, fresh silicone caulk will not stick to existing silicone caulk at all. IMO that’s another reason silicone caulk ought never be used on anything that might ever need to be repaired, refurbished, or repainted.
Once the surface is truly clean, dry, 100% devoid of old caulk, etc., *then *you’re ready to apply new.
As has already been said, you’re trying to drive the caulk deep into the gap between the two surfaces, not just lay a pretty fillet across the top of them. That’s where a sharp tip, keeping the tip pressed firmly into the corner, and going slow enough that you’re forcing material deep into the gap, not stretching the material up and out of the gap.
I bought a tube of DAP caulk just a week ago for some caulking I plan to do. I noticed immediately that the tube doesn’t come with a cap (as some other brands do), and asked the clerk about it. She pointed out that smoothing tool, which is a cap-and-smoother-in-one thingy.
That damn smoothing tool costs as much as the entire tube of caulk!
Thanks but no thanks. I have some extra ball-point-pen caps. I’ll just use one of those.
I did some caulking about ten years ago – the first time I ever did that, and without any prior practice or instructions on how to do it right. It worked just fine for me. I just used my finger to smooth the caulk. I agree with the above remarks, that you want to put enough caulk there, and press it into the seam, to get it deeply penetrated into the seam.
BTW, I have a DIY handyman neighbor who suggests getting a nail of suitable size, and stick that into the tip of the tube to seal it when you are done. Then next time you use the tube, just pull it out and you will have an unplugged-up tip. I plan to do that, and put the ball-point-pen cap on over that.
ETA: Also, to get a good straight border to your caulked seam, use masking tape just like if you were painting.
And have a damp cloth or paper towel nearby to wipe things, in particular your finger, very often.
FTG’s description is very good. I would add that learning to apply the right size of bead is very important. If you use FTG’s technique properly you may not even need to smooth it with your finger at all. If using your finger with silicone you must wet it for each pass. I find that wrapping your finger with something does not work nearly as well as just wetting it. Have a rag handy to clean the joint, and lots of paper towel to keep your hands and the spout clean. The surface has to be clean but if you are using silicone, wetting the joint with a damp rag especially when using a spatula will help achieving tight clean edges.
The tools (spatula) can be pretty handy especially when working with silicone, which as others have said can be the most difficult, but is also much more durable than acrylic caulks. Used properly they can be really useful. The kings of silicone caulk application are shower glass installers and when they use a tool they use a caulking spatula that you are not going to find at home depot.
Silicone and acrylic caulks can usually be found in squeeze tubes. I think most people will find squeeze tubes much easier to work with than a caulkling gun. You will have much finer control and get it in to tighter spaces.
There are many types of caulk suited for different applications and knowing what one to use is important. For interior residential purposes I find Dap Quick Seal is better than silicone for most applications. It is a high silicone acrylic caulk so has the water resistance designed for sinks and showers. Unlike silicone it is water clean-up when wet and when cured still cleans up much better than silicone. It accepts paint readily (silicone can not be painted at all) and can be painted before being fully cured even. Unlike regular acrylic caulk like Dap Alex Plus, it cures to a clean shiny finish and never needs to be painted. The Brilliant White colour is very opaque and hides very well, the transparent is quite clear but not as clear as silicone.
For tile corner joints I find that matching grout caulk looks much better than silicone, ages much better (no dirty yellowing), and is easier to apply and clean up.
It is hard to beat silicone for full water submersion and high adhesion.
With experience, you eventually get the feel of how much to squeeze out, how fast to move, and how hard to press to lay down a good line. To get good adhesion, make sure the surface is clean and dry. In a shower, that may mean you have to leave it open for a day or two after you remove the old caulk. There may be water stuck back there. I usually strip the caulk and then leave a fan blowing until I’m sure it’s 100% dry. I get the best results by wiping with my wet, bare finger.
One thing that helps is to get the best calking gun you can. The good ones will allow you to swivel the tube and will give you a lot of control through the trigger. The cheap ones will keep oozing even after you let go of the trigger. Usually dedicated paint stores have good caulking guns.
Watch youtube videos to see how to caulk. Watch several of them so you can see the techniques that give good results. If I have a small job, sometimes I’ll do some practice lines on cardboard to reacquaint myself with how it should feel before starting on the actual job.
The sharpness of the cut of the tip is incredibly important. Even the tiniest burr will make a good bead of caulk nearly impossible. Use a razor blade, hold the tip tightly and slice straight through from side to side. The angle really depends on the caulk, the surface, and the temperature. Basically the wider the bead the shallower the angle.
As I mentioned in Post #7, I plan to do some caulking some time RSN. Although I’ve had good results with my prior caulking work (inexperienced though I was), I see some suggestions in this thread that I haven’t considered before, that I will plan on using now. To-wit, for example: The idea of using wet finger to smooth it, and using the release lever on the gun to stop it from oozing.
I’m doing caulking mostly around window sills, and nothing around sinks or showers. But I also want to caulk around some exterior water pipes where they go into the wall.
The caulk I got is DAP “Alex Fast Dry”. Is this acrylic or latex or silicone? The label says all three! “Fast Dry Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone”. The label further mentions indoor/outdoor; waterproof; easy water clean-up, among other specs.
Is this the right stuff I should use? The label seems to have all the desired magic words. Anything specific I should know about this variety of caulk?
I agree with the comments about the surface being clean and dry, having a quality gun, and cutting the tip optimally. But nobody has mentioned the real secret: blue tape. You define the width of your bead with the placement of the tape on both faces of the joint. You make sure the edges are in firm contact with the surface. You accept that the bead will have a micro-shoulder the thickness of the blue tape. You work in the caulk firmly with a wetted finger or tool, making sure you push enough so that there is no buildup on top of the tape at the edges, and that the shoulder will be no more than the tape thickness. Then you leave it alone.
A latex-based caulk may tolerate a second pass with the tool or finger, but resist the temptation if it’s silicone. I have done this professionally on and off for 30 years, and it’s really the only way I can get a good cosmetic result. Freehanding is never as good. It’s like painting: spend the time on all the tedious details of good prep and the actual painting time is the least of it.
Caulking, at least when using latex caulk, is not an especially difficult thing to do, so the fact that you’re having so much trouble tells me that something is seriously amiss. The poor adhesion tells me that you are probably trying to caulk over an area that was previously caulked with a 100% silicon caulk. The main problem with silicon caulk is that once it cures, nothing sticks to it not even more silicon caulk. In addition, it is almost impossible to completely remove and clean off any of this old caulk. The instructions on the tube will probably say to remove manually as much of the silicon caulk as possible and then wipe down the area with mineral spirits. That doesn’t do it! There are always little pockets, streaks and smears of caulk that are left behind, and you won’t know this until you have put down new caulk and have it open up after it has cured.
So if your problem is old silicon caulk, as I suspect it is, you will have to take out your old work and THOROUGHLY remove any traces of the old silicon caulk. There are some caulk removing sprays out there that might help. Don’t skip on this step.
Finally don’t re-caulk with 100% silicon caulk (latex caulks with added silicon are fine). Silicon is much harder to work with and to clean up.