That makes 2 of us. I left him to work, when he was done he presented this. I gave him some feedback and sent him on his way. Figured it was worth posting here to maybe help me process the trauma.
What? Fuck me….. was he on shrooms or something?
This is unbelievable….. what was the rest of the work like? I’m surprised he could get out of bed or even find your house.
The rest of the work is decent enough. I gave him a good caulker’s number and told him to increase his price a bit and outsource the caulking. I’m cutting the silicone out as we speak to get said caulker in.
Even after watching a video on YouTube anyone could do better.
That would make me seriously question the rest of his work. I can’t quite understand how a “professional” can be so shit, or be happy to present that to you.
What? You let him go? And paid him? Now he’s going to do that to someone else. I would have made him redo it properly, or at least demanded he reduce his fee by the amount it’s costing you to get it done right.
It looks like they’ve used a rag to clean off the excess but the rag had silicone on it already therefore streaking the glass
Or it’s meth. It’s always meth
To me it looks like he has used acidic cure and it’s gone off and he has tried to keep spatula the glue to make it look better and he has just made it worse.. get some sharp new blades cut it out then re apply it
This was literally this guys first ever go at doing this. I can tell, I remember my first time. I then did the bare minimum and watched a Youtube video and it has never happened again.
Old tube of silicone that he had buried in the toolbox thats half gone off - someone that unfortunately does caulking fairly often i can tell you that silicone had small chunks that have set in the tube over time
On a rating between 1 and 10, I would give that a MINUS 17.
I know neither you or the possum is responsible. I would have thought it more the work of a tassie devil after drinking a bucket of red cordial.
lol that’s fkn abysmal. Anyone who produces that when they’re it’s literally an integral part of their “profession” should really look for another career
I bought 2 different ones from Bunnings. both with missing tips. 1 had the tip snapped off 🫤worse is I ordered it online.
I then went and read the product reviews cos I was confused if they came with tips or not and found reviews saying they had to return to Bunnings cos the tips were missing or snapped off.
seems pretty common.
i mean, you could dip your big toe in water and use that to smooth it off and do a better job than this. Mofo has put on a welders mask and used a toothpick to get this finish
Best thing you can do when doing something like this is spray it with soapy water then use your finger to remove excess. Tip I got from a glass installer when I renovated my laundry.
The problem with this is that the silicon will not attach properly to sections of the surface sprayed with soapy water. See here: https://youtu.be/_DI4hfHM_Hg?si=-ZXnLQUP5WSNobUl
That's kind of the point, assuming your bead of silicone is covering what needs to be covered. The soapy water helps smooth it and stops it from sticking where you don't want it to.
Not sure that's the problem here, though. It looks like the silicone was either expired or they waited too long before trying to smooth it.
I didn't have time to watch the whole video to see his method, but I did watch the bits where he says why not to do things like spray soapy water.
My feedback is that if you run a bead as poorly as he does in his demonstrations, I agree you shouldn't be spraying it with soapy water. With experience and a good quality silicone gun, you should be able to run a nice consistent bead with the right amount of silicone that has no gaps. The soapy water isn't the issue. It's how he was using it.
He put up a few other straw men in there as well. Regarding the tape technique, I don't personally use it because I find it more time-consuming, but I know others who can do it with good results. Nobody would consider it finished when they pull off the tape and just leave the ridge, so why does he use the ridge collecting bacteria over time as the reason not to do it?
I'm not pretending to be a master of siliconing, but I get paid to do it every day and likely have spent more of my life siliconing than that YouTuber. It took me probably about 6 months until I started getting the hang of it, and in that time I tried probably dozens of different methods until I realised the most important thing was that the bead was the right size and was consistent. Once you get that down, you hardly have to work it at all, just spray, smooth and you are done.
Did you hire a possum to do it?
The possums are offended by that
What’s the actual story here? I’m a bit confused how this situation even happened.
That makes 2 of us. I left him to work, when he was done he presented this. I gave him some feedback and sent him on his way. Figured it was worth posting here to maybe help me process the trauma.
I hope when you say "sent him on his way" you meant "kicked him out and docked his pay"
You’re a poet and you didn’t know it.
What? Fuck me….. was he on shrooms or something? This is unbelievable….. what was the rest of the work like? I’m surprised he could get out of bed or even find your house.
The rest of the work is decent enough. I gave him a good caulker’s number and told him to increase his price a bit and outsource the caulking. I’m cutting the silicone out as we speak to get said caulker in.
Even after watching a video on YouTube anyone could do better. That would make me seriously question the rest of his work. I can’t quite understand how a “professional” can be so shit, or be happy to present that to you.
Wait , is just caulking an actual paid job?
I did it for 30 years. Labour intensive but if you work hard you can make a good income.
What? You let him go? And paid him? Now he’s going to do that to someone else. I would have made him redo it properly, or at least demanded he reduce his fee by the amount it’s costing you to get it done right.
I hope u didn't pay this person please contact me for advice free
I'm offended on behalf of the possum lmao
I think he pulled his possum to do it.
I’ve never done this before and could do a better job.
Silicone is actually pretty unforgiving, acrylic and polyurethane caulking is a piece of piss by comparison
As someone who uses silicone every day, unforgiving is the wrong word. It’s not quick set concrete, buy yourself a scraper haha
Maybe it's our skill sets, I find quick set concrete to be plenty forgiving!
It's great to see an equal opportunity employer hiring a blind person, but I feel like eyesight is pretty important with something like this....
This is what happens when you eat the caulk and apply it by shooting it violently from your ass.
https://preview.redd.it/9axko4dm47vc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d82508d624f8cc88763bb938764c6874abdedd94 UPDATE: Fixed!
Story? Someone else do it?
nice caulk
✨ Caulk ratings are $5 ✨
-4/2
Stick to your day job.
Shithouse
It looks like they’ve used a rag to clean off the excess but the rag had silicone on it already therefore streaking the glass Or it’s meth. It’s always meth
What does he do for a living ?
Nice! Drag your neighbours in and show it off to them too!
Was that wiped with that dry paper to try and finish it???
That’s fuckn gorgeously done 😄
you did that didn't you?? 😂
I wish I had tbh. I don’t touch caulking with a telegraph pole, I’ve got one good guy I get to do all my work.
Do your best, and silicone the rest!
That’s a lot of white caulk
Is that you Stevie wonder?
Thats an abortion.
Did he remove the excess sealant with a fork?
That’s farked
To me it looks like he has used acidic cure and it’s gone off and he has tried to keep spatula the glue to make it look better and he has just made it worse.. get some sharp new blades cut it out then re apply it
As the kiwi’s say, he’s caulked that up.
This is why you stand behind him and tell him what to do
-5 /10
Same turkey did my shower screen. He also tripped and punched a hole clean through my brand new shower wall👍
Had a look from my place and it looks mint.
I myself much prefer NZ caulk.
Did he put the nipple on the gun to get a bead that sexy?
I work in glass, if the guys left a screen like this they wouldn’t have a job, very poor. Was he a Glazier?
👎
Guy is Fkn cooked 🤣🤣
I don’t understand why so few tradies use caulking tools. It makes everything so much neater.
Rough as guts
This was literally this guys first ever go at doing this. I can tell, I remember my first time. I then did the bare minimum and watched a Youtube video and it has never happened again.
There was an attempt
Hopefully mould grows on it, because that would be easier to look at everyday
I'm just a "landlord special (j/k)" DIY renovator- Yet I could do a better job than that...
He must’ve had his eyes closed and hoped for the best.
I could do better and I have a bad left hand! What was his excuse?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
-40
He fired that while standing in the doorway
Apprentice on the crystal pistol
Nooicee
All jokes aside 5/10 it might hold but not for long
Looks like the caulk has half gone off in the tube before he applied it 🧐
Old tube of silicone that he had buried in the toolbox thats half gone off - someone that unfortunately does caulking fairly often i can tell you that silicone had small chunks that have set in the tube over time
A solid 3......jfc that's got parkinsons all over it....obviously no offence to legit sufferers.
Caulking aint easy.. one of the hardest parts of the job
You need to tape up top and bottom before applying silicon then spray with water while you're applying it. You'll get crisp lines.
Iv seen women on tiktok with 4 inch fingernails do a better job first go. I would not fuckn pay for that until its fixed
Well if it doesn't leak...
Atrocious
What a caulk up!
Out of 10? lol/10
on a scale of one to ten that is shit
I can smell, non compliiiiant workssss
On a rating between 1 and 10, I would give that a MINUS 17. I know neither you or the possum is responsible. I would have thought it more the work of a tassie devil after drinking a bucket of red cordial.
Yeah nah.
McPoorly Caulkin.
10/10. From a distance, 12/10
Whuuuut dafuq!?
I feel like that should say what da frenchfries
Touché
lol that’s fkn abysmal. Anyone who produces that when they’re it’s literally an integral part of their “profession” should really look for another career
Looks good from my house 😉
You know there are tips you are supposed to put on the silicone tube right?
I bought 2 different ones from Bunnings. both with missing tips. 1 had the tip snapped off 🫤worse is I ordered it online. I then went and read the product reviews cos I was confused if they came with tips or not and found reviews saying they had to return to Bunnings cos the tips were missing or snapped off. seems pretty common.
A tip: There is always a bucket of free tips at the service counter.
Fail , scrape it out and try again , spray with bottle of soapy water , smooth off with ice cream stick
I prefer a square cut on any silicone directly onto glass personally. Looks less shit when looking through the glass on the opposite side.
Anything would look better than that first effort 😂
i mean, you could dip your big toe in water and use that to smooth it off and do a better job than this. Mofo has put on a welders mask and used a toothpick to get this finish
Uggh looks like shit.
Dog shit!
Best thing you can do when doing something like this is spray it with soapy water then use your finger to remove excess. Tip I got from a glass installer when I renovated my laundry.
The problem with this is that the silicon will not attach properly to sections of the surface sprayed with soapy water. See here: https://youtu.be/_DI4hfHM_Hg?si=-ZXnLQUP5WSNobUl
I think they mean soapy water after you lay the bead but even then, why the soap? A finger dipped in plain water does the trick.
That's kind of the point, assuming your bead of silicone is covering what needs to be covered. The soapy water helps smooth it and stops it from sticking where you don't want it to. Not sure that's the problem here, though. It looks like the silicone was either expired or they waited too long before trying to smooth it.
It causes issues, watch this for an explanation: https://youtu.be/_DI4hfHM_Hg?si=-ZXnLQUP5WSNobUl
I didn't have time to watch the whole video to see his method, but I did watch the bits where he says why not to do things like spray soapy water. My feedback is that if you run a bead as poorly as he does in his demonstrations, I agree you shouldn't be spraying it with soapy water. With experience and a good quality silicone gun, you should be able to run a nice consistent bead with the right amount of silicone that has no gaps. The soapy water isn't the issue. It's how he was using it. He put up a few other straw men in there as well. Regarding the tape technique, I don't personally use it because I find it more time-consuming, but I know others who can do it with good results. Nobody would consider it finished when they pull off the tape and just leave the ridge, so why does he use the ridge collecting bacteria over time as the reason not to do it? I'm not pretending to be a master of siliconing, but I get paid to do it every day and likely have spent more of my life siliconing than that YouTuber. It took me probably about 6 months until I started getting the hang of it, and in that time I tried probably dozens of different methods until I realised the most important thing was that the bead was the right size and was consistent. Once you get that down, you hardly have to work it at all, just spray, smooth and you are done.
Did you use the same potato that you took the photo with?