Anyone who has ever tried to caulk a line of sealant around their bathroom fixtures, a window, their kitchen, or elsewhere knows how difficult and messy that can be.
Well here’s an easy way to do a perfect job every time that will look super professional.
In our example, we’re fixing a line of sealant at the bottom of a shower stall to ensure that water doesn’t get underneath where it can start mold to form. Plus we just want it to look new again!
You can see in the photos below that some silicone sealant is missing, plus it’s just uneven and not nicely done in other spots.
What You Will Need
- A caulking compound that’s suitable for the application. Compounds come in either squeeze tubes or caulking gun cartridges. If you’re going to be doing a lot of sealing, then you’ll probably want to use the caulking gun cartridges as they contain more sealant and will be easier to use.
- A caulking gun (if you’re using caulking gun cartridges).
- Painter’s tape.
- Rubbing alcohol. This is effectively a mix of approximately 60% to 90% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in distilled water). You can purchase this in most pharmacies.
- Paper towels or a clean cloth.
What To Do
Step #1 – Remove any old or loose sealant
It’s usually best to remove as much of the old sealant as possible. Any sealant that is still in good shape and adhering well could be left intact, but it can affect how uniform your new job will look. At a minimum, you should always remove at least any loose and damaged sealant.
Step #2 – Thoroughly clean the surfaces to be sealed
Apply some of the rubbing alcohol to paper towels or a clean cloth and gently wipe down the surfaces where you will be applying the caulking compound. This step is necessary to ensure good adhesion. Many people skip this step and regret it later when their sealant peels prematurely.
Step #3 – Use the painter’s tape to mask around your sealant locations
Many of the pros don’t bother with this step because they’ve sealed so many times that they can easily apply the right amount of caulking compound smoothly and uniformly across then entire line. However, it’s not easy to always do this well and it’s especially difficult for the occasional do-it-yourself person. This is where tape makes it easy!
What you need to do is apply painter’s tape on each side of the line to be sealed. After you apply and smooth then sealant, you will pull the tape off again to get those perfectly smooth lines. So as you’re applying the tape, place it where you want to control the edges of the sealant and keep it off of the surrounding surfaces.
Step #4 – Apply the caulking compound
Starting at one end of the line to be sealed, apply a continuous line of caulking compound. Try to squeeze out the compound at an even rate while also moving along the line at a constant speed. The goal is to get a uniform amount of caulking compound along the line.
A common mistake is to use too much caulking compound. Remember that you will smooth out the sealant and want it to reach the edges of the tape when you do so. So you need enough to achieve that, but no more. What helps is to cut the opening on the caulking tube to an opening size that’s just right… not too big, but big enough that the sealant will squeeze out easily and at a size close to the line width you need.
After you’ve applied the caulking compound, use your finger or a smoothing tool to smooth the caulking evenly along the entire line. The best way to do this is to start at one end and then move consistently to the other end without stopping.
Another common mistake is to spend too much time smoothing the caulking compound. It usually starts to cure and skin over fairly quickly, and that’s when still trying to smooth it will start to backfire and actually make it messy.
Step #5 – Remove the tape
Carefully remove the painter’s tape from the surrounding surfaces immediately after smoothing the compound. The best way to do this is to peel it off at an angle away from the compound and as close to the taped surface as possible. This will leave cleaner edges.
After the tape has been removed it may be necessary to carefully smooth some areas of the caulking compound again.
Done!
Another Useful Tip
If you do a lot of work with caulking compounds, sealants, and construction adhesives then you may want to consider getting an electric caulking gun. This tool is absolutely awesome and a huge time saver versus a manual caulking gun.
Our favourite is the Ryobi P310G from Home Depot because of these great features:
- It supports both the regular and larger caulking cartridge sizes.
- It has a variable speed adjustment to control how quickly it squeezes out the sealant or adhesive from the tube.
- It’s activated using a simple trigger. No more squeezing by hand. The benefits of this are a consistent flow rate, plus it eliminates the fatigue in your hand that you can get after a lot of caulking.
- It’s powered by the Ryobi ONE+ lithium ion battery packs. These are great quality, long-lasting battery packs that work with a wide range of Ryobi ONE+ tools.
Other great picks that offer similar performance, quality, and features are listed below.
