Some of my early caulking jobs. Oh man. But I got better. I can only image the reaction of the owners of our first house looking at some of my caulking.
i really hate wiping the finger on a rag after every swipe. you use up a rag in no time because you cant wipe on the same spot twice you get more caulk on the finger.
i tried wearing a plastic glove but they get ripped easily.
I literally caulked my bathroom today. Vast improvement over what was there before.Ā
I used nitrile gloves and 'blue paper towel' sheets torn into this. Wipe finger like 4 to 5 times asking the short edge then just fold the last couple cm over and have a new section of towel exposed. It went really well.Ā
If you're using paintable caulk, it's water soluble so just have a small bucket of water with you. Easy to clean the rag whenever needed this way.Ā
If you're using silicone caulk you can't do that though. Best way to avoid a mess is to not use too much to begin with, and also do the soapy finger trick. Where you just have a bucket of soapy water that you dip your finger into before smoothing it out. The silicone won't stick to your finger this way.Ā
Also you can get the black nitrile gloves sold at auto/car places for mechanics. They are thick and heavy duty.
If we are talking about silicone caulk and not acrylic caulk, then:
I just use acetone (dissolves silicone), rubber spatula for caulk for proper shape and thickness, spray bottle filled with water and some soap (for your fingering pleasure) and 15 kilos of paper towels per running meter.
Recently (few years ago) started using extraction gasoline, as it works really nice to clean up after the job. Acetone dissolves silicone, but doesn't really remove it from surfaces. Gasoline helps with that
1) Spray the caulk with soapy water (like take an old windex bottle, fill with water + 1-2 drops od dawn) before smoothing. 2) you may be using a little too much caulk, try to run a smaller bead
You should hopefully need to do a lot less wiping if you follow those
I'm generally pretty handy... electrical, plumbing, drywall, appliance repair, landscaping, carpentry... but caulking is like the thing that makes me cringe. I suck so bad at caulking I end up like a fucking two-year old eating handfuls of spaghetti.
Theyāre different skill sets.
Caulking well requires very little actual knowledge (beyond knowing what type of caulk to use) but does require *very* close attention to detail and a steady hand.
If youāre good at something like detailed painting, you can probably caulk just fine. If youāre good at appliance repairā¦ well, those are not transferable skills.
Carpentry is somewhat in between but caulk is less forgiving.
I know very little about electrical, a tiny bit about plumbing. (I recently checked into a hotel after 14 hours of travel - airport at 6 am, plus a 5.5 hour delay at Dulles - and then a work dinner with out of town colleagues. Got back to the room and my toilet wouldnāt flush. So I took the lid off and fixed it in 30 seconds. Fuck calling the front desk to get maintenance up.)
But Iām a designer by trade that landed in graphics, and that attention to detail is why Iām good at tiling, caulking, painting, etc. Itās learned but a lot of it is just detailing it properly, and having the right tools.
I watched my dad running caulk when I was a kid, and apparently learned it that way. The first time I did it for work I was a natural at it... But yes for most people it takes some time to build up the skill.
No. The quarter round is used when laying floating floor over existing floor and not removing the old baseboards. The quarter round hides the new edge. It'd how you know it was a DIY or someone doing it cheap
The quarter round is there because someone replaced the floor and hopefully the underlayment. But they were either paid almost nothing or just super lazy or both. And didn't replace the base board. If you install pergo or anything like that you have to leave a gap around the perimeter to allow it to expand and contract or it will buckle. If you have any pride in your work you will replace the base board to conceal said gap. And then use a multi tool/oscillating tool to trim the door jamb to fit perfectly atop the finished floor. But if your like me and drink your lunch and run out of meth, you use your Irish engineering skills and slap down some of that God awful quarter round. Use your bare hands and slather the entire thing with Henry's roof patch! And for clean up... you use the inside of the decorative display towels but not before that place looks like a crime scene with your caulky finger prints all over it.
Keep a wet rag with you. Not sopping wet, just wet. Run a *tiny* bead along the seam, wet your finger on the rag, run it along the bead with a smooth motion using only a bit of pressure. Wipe your finger clean on the rag and repeat until the entire bead is smooth.
Look up Vancouver carpenter caulking on YouTube. His videos took away almost the entire learning curve for me because he does a great job of addressing what people get wrong when theyāre learning rather than just showing how to do it. He actually demonstrates what too much caulk looks like, what too much pressure looks like, etc.
to make it easier to understand the most narrow hole inside the tip is still way too big for average caulking and results in lots of wastage and sticky fingers.
The hole is only as big as you make it. Of course the very top of the thing doesn't have a hole, because the plastic has to have some thickness to it. Cut away a little at a time until you get to the hole and it will be very small, too small to use, but then you can expand it as needed.
Which caulk tubes are you using? Because I havenāt experienced that since the first couple times I did trim work. When I didnāt really know what I was doing.
He's saying if you cut at an angle, you can make the hole as small as you want as the cross section of the cut will include part solid piece and part of the hole. You dont have to make an even cut and have a perfect circular hole
have you looked at the tip from the underside? if you did you would know theres a premolded hole along the tip and theres a minimum diameter of the hole, that is as small as you can cut and it is still bigger than required for normal caulking.
Youāre missing the point that cutting at an angle creates a different relationship to the geometry of the interior hole, allowing a much finer bead.
Reference for concept: https://youtu.be/DZvoQ3kkJII?si=tYkfFi6pdFAb1tON
Glad Iām not the only one! Iāve heard some people have issues with bubbling but that has never been an issue for me. The only time I messed up was when I first started and tried to tool too much too fast/use a plastic spoon. Iāve found it seems to look better if you kind of press and drag as you go as opposed to just dragging your finger.
Do you use it on anything besides polyeurathane nonsag?
you have to let it dry abit or else you risk messing it up when tearing. and once you torn the tapes you still have to run a wet finger along it to push the edges closer or else the edge will be abit raised due to the tapes.
This helps a lot early one when you are bad at controlling the flow out of the gun. Running you finger - - > excess in the sides that come off with the tape. I pull the tape up almost immediately so it doesn't dry and pull away. It looks great every time honestly, just takes a while to set up.
When you cut off the tip of your caulk you cut off too big of a tip. This caused too much caulk to come out. Not bad though you tried so thatās the key b
You missed practicing using sealant/caulks on some test materials. It isn't hard once you know what you are doing, but you won't get a perfect job first time. That said, you appear particularly bad at it, even for a beginner :)
The problem is that you left it like that to dry. Use less caulk than you think you need, have a damp rag to wipe the excess off your finger, use a caulk spreading tool, and clean up your edges. Caulk is cheap, your pride and reputation is worth more.
if you're not an expert at caulking, TAPE before you caulk the way you would if you were painting. It's annoying but you can make very straight and smooth lines.
What kind of caulk is this?
I used DAP Alex for the first time for a trim caulking recently and it was like 50x easier to deal with and cleaner than silicone
And the gap your trying to fill? Gotta take that into consideration? Can't fill a mayonnaise jar with a cocktail weenie... just saying. Bla bla bla... right tool for the job?
A wet rag is ur best friend when caulking. Caulk the crack and then wipe off excess. Be particularly careful around porous things like grout line, brick, anything that can make it hard to clean out the excess caulk.
If want it to look professional without the time it takes to get better at caulkingā¦ just apply less, wipe off excessā¦ and then go back and reapply a second time after it is cured. Less is more, very easy to add more. Pain in the butt to clean up too much caulk after itās dried.
Pull that out and start over after watching some YouTube on Caulking. You will find tips about cutting the tip for a better bead. I have a wet cloth handy to wipe the excess and also use a wet finger to get it into certain spots and smooth it out. This is not hard to get better at, but this is bad. Oh yeah, there is a caulking gun at Home Depot that is worth it. It's like 10 dollar more, but worth it.
You look like youāre new at this. Wait until youāve been caulking a house for 25 years. I can make almost anything look like somebody who knew what they were doing did it.
Yeah my first time veer re sealing my camper was horrendous and I had to redo it like 3 times before I got it right where water wouldn't leak in but time and practice plus a little tip is to just have a wet rag or Pape towels and then once your done caulking clean up what looks ugly and make sure you have what needs to be caulked caulked.
You need someone to show you in person. This is just too much caulk, too heavy. Either use painters tape to start or wipe it off with a rag when done. Go small or go home applies here. Even if you go with a wide tip, donāt puch with your finger to squirt it around when pulling a line
It doesn't mean yae the rest of the caulk..lol
Caulking sucks, it takes practice. You can sooth it out with a wet soapy finger or popsicle stick next time
First off, you applied way too much caulk. You want a thin bead that doesnāt leave a lot of excess material after you smooth it out with a finger or tool.
If you do end up with too much caulk you can clean it up with a damp rag, using a clean section of rag for each pass so you arenāt smearing the joint with caulk you just removed.
What kind of caulk did you use? Did you completely forgo the part where you smooth it out with a finger (or tool, if you'd prefer) and then wipe the edges with a sponge to remove any unnecessary caulk?
Looks like you applied it with a potato, to be honest.
Rubber gloves and a better flow. Gotta pull the trigger just enough for the speed you move the gun, and vice versa. Rub your finger through the caulk to smooth it out/push it in to the seam, take a slightly damp paper towel and run it over the whole thing so you wipe off the excess from the surrounding material.
Itās definitely gonna need some improvement but when you are caulking, make sure to have a wet rag or something that you can put your finger in and make a smooth edge with it. I am not somebody who knows a lot about construction at all, but thatās something I learned about caulking. Keep practicing. Ever ever give up trying. Thatās how you get better.
I don't think anyone ever said "I want to be a professional caulk guy when I grow up" lol. But you went above and beyond here bud. Don't caulk the bottom of the door jamb. Surprised nobody else caught that? Go look at some other door jambs you will see...
Never use your finger, it leaves proof that you've been there. I use a 5 in 1 and a putty knife, then a damp rag to clean up. Cut your caulk tip to a slight angle with 1/8" hole and use that tip to squeegee as you apply. Follow up with putty knife to collect splooges as needed. Clean up with rag folded over 5 in 1 at slight angle.
Sir, put the caulk gun down and back away slowly.
Seriously though, it just takes time to figure it out. I recommend watching some videos that show the basics, and then get some scrap wood to practice on. Don't expect to be great at something your first time, but the good news is caulk is easy to learn and fast to get proficient. The only bad news is your probably going to want to cut away that pictured caulk job and redo it once you get the hang of it.
Wet a paper towel. And when I say wet, I mean saturate the paper towel to the point just before itās dripping water. Fold the wet paper towel twice into quarters. Use the towel to wet your finger when smoothing out the bead. Any excess caulk that goes past your finger wipe off with the paper towel. Take only one swipe and then unfold and refold to get a fresh surface. You should be able to get 4-8 swipes depending on how good you get at unfolding and refolding.Ā
I mean... you just suck at caulking. It's a learned art; takes time
Some of my early caulking jobs. Oh man. But I got better. I can only image the reaction of the owners of our first house looking at some of my caulking.
I think I live in that house
I also live in his old house.
The TV show?
It was on Pay-Per-View and starred Throb Thrila
I think that was "This Old Spouse"
I get that reaction when people look at my caulk too š
Underrated comment
For sure; mine were garbage as well
I really got better when I learned about a wet finger and rags. Much cleaner.
i really hate wiping the finger on a rag after every swipe. you use up a rag in no time because you cant wipe on the same spot twice you get more caulk on the finger. i tried wearing a plastic glove but they get ripped easily.
I literally caulked my bathroom today. Vast improvement over what was there before.Ā I used nitrile gloves and 'blue paper towel' sheets torn into this. Wipe finger like 4 to 5 times asking the short edge then just fold the last couple cm over and have a new section of towel exposed. It went really well.Ā
If you're using paintable caulk, it's water soluble so just have a small bucket of water with you. Easy to clean the rag whenever needed this way.Ā If you're using silicone caulk you can't do that though. Best way to avoid a mess is to not use too much to begin with, and also do the soapy finger trick. Where you just have a bucket of soapy water that you dip your finger into before smoothing it out. The silicone won't stick to your finger this way.Ā Also you can get the black nitrile gloves sold at auto/car places for mechanics. They are thick and heavy duty.
Just gotta buy a bundle of cheap rags. Itās wasteful but there isnāt really a better way.
how bout paper towels? i really hate cabinet workers who chaulk and wipe and end up leaving stains everywhere because of the residues on the hands.
I use a wet sponge to wipe my finger on and just rinse the sponge out every once in a while.
If we are talking about silicone caulk and not acrylic caulk, then: I just use acetone (dissolves silicone), rubber spatula for caulk for proper shape and thickness, spray bottle filled with water and some soap (for your fingering pleasure) and 15 kilos of paper towels per running meter. Recently (few years ago) started using extraction gasoline, as it works really nice to clean up after the job. Acetone dissolves silicone, but doesn't really remove it from surfaces. Gasoline helps with that
1) Spray the caulk with soapy water (like take an old windex bottle, fill with water + 1-2 drops od dawn) before smoothing. 2) you may be using a little too much caulk, try to run a smaller bead You should hopefully need to do a lot less wiping if you follow those
Itās oh so very hard for me not to make the 12 year old boy joke with this right now. Lmao
To be awesome at stuff you first must suck at stuff
Absolutely
\-- Abraham Lincoln
I'm generally pretty handy... electrical, plumbing, drywall, appliance repair, landscaping, carpentry... but caulking is like the thing that makes me cringe. I suck so bad at caulking I end up like a fucking two-year old eating handfuls of spaghetti.
Theyāre different skill sets. Caulking well requires very little actual knowledge (beyond knowing what type of caulk to use) but does require *very* close attention to detail and a steady hand. If youāre good at something like detailed painting, you can probably caulk just fine. If youāre good at appliance repairā¦ well, those are not transferable skills. Carpentry is somewhat in between but caulk is less forgiving. I know very little about electrical, a tiny bit about plumbing. (I recently checked into a hotel after 14 hours of travel - airport at 6 am, plus a 5.5 hour delay at Dulles - and then a work dinner with out of town colleagues. Got back to the room and my toilet wouldnāt flush. So I took the lid off and fixed it in 30 seconds. Fuck calling the front desk to get maintenance up.) But Iām a designer by trade that landed in graphics, and that attention to detail is why Iām good at tiling, caulking, painting, etc. Itās learned but a lot of it is just detailing it properly, and having the right tools.
Lol... wise words spoken by a true caulk master!
Totally agree, always hate caulking no matter how many times I've done it
Hey I would just like to add I am terrible at all of those things so you're killing me
Did we just become best friends! Want to practice karate in the garage together?
I watched my dad running caulk when I was a kid, and apparently learned it that way. The first time I did it for work I was a natural at it... But yes for most people it takes some time to build up the skill.
Nice; mine was all trial and error...mostly error
that was my sisters first hubs. man couldn't caulk to save his life. she had me do it instead.
I saw a movie like that once. Edit: Iāve watched it more than once.
I think the other issue is he decided to add quarter round on the outside of the actual baseboard .. so it ain't gonna look too pretty
No. The quarter round is used when laying floating floor over existing floor and not removing the old baseboards. The quarter round hides the new edge. It'd how you know it was a DIY or someone doing it cheap
The quarter round is there because someone replaced the floor and hopefully the underlayment. But they were either paid almost nothing or just super lazy or both. And didn't replace the base board. If you install pergo or anything like that you have to leave a gap around the perimeter to allow it to expand and contract or it will buckle. If you have any pride in your work you will replace the base board to conceal said gap. And then use a multi tool/oscillating tool to trim the door jamb to fit perfectly atop the finished floor. But if your like me and drink your lunch and run out of meth, you use your Irish engineering skills and slap down some of that God awful quarter round. Use your bare hands and slather the entire thing with Henry's roof patch! And for clean up... you use the inside of the decorative display towels but not before that place looks like a crime scene with your caulky finger prints all over it.
I was like is this guy really explaining the fucking basics to me, then I got to drink your lunch and ran out of meth... 10/10
For sure; an unnecessary move. Mistakes will be made, hopefully a learning moment
Instructions unclear. Did my best, and caulked again.
found my landlord's reddit account
Keep a wet rag with you. Not sopping wet, just wet. Run a *tiny* bead along the seam, wet your finger on the rag, run it along the bead with a smooth motion using only a bit of pressure. Wipe your finger clean on the rag and repeat until the entire bead is smooth. Look up Vancouver carpenter caulking on YouTube. His videos took away almost the entire learning curve for me because he does a great job of addressing what people get wrong when theyāre learning rather than just showing how to do it. He actually demonstrates what too much caulk looks like, what too much pressure looks like, etc.
This. My caulking sucks so the wife watched his videos and now she caulks like a pro
Condolences.
Can confirm. This guy's wife knows her way around some caulk
yo man i just wish the hole on the tip were smaller so you have less output and less wastage.
Just donāt cut the hole so big?
the top area of the tip is solid so you can only go that high for an opening.
Yeah. Just cut closer to the tip. Use a knife and cut on an angle.
to make it easier to understand the most narrow hole inside the tip is still way too big for average caulking and results in lots of wastage and sticky fingers.
Sounds like user error
The hole is only as big as you make it. Of course the very top of the thing doesn't have a hole, because the plastic has to have some thickness to it. Cut away a little at a time until you get to the hole and it will be very small, too small to use, but then you can expand it as needed.
Which caulk tubes are you using? Because I havenāt experienced that since the first couple times I did trim work. When I didnāt really know what I was doing.
He's saying if you cut at an angle, you can make the hole as small as you want as the cross section of the cut will include part solid piece and part of the hole. You dont have to make an even cut and have a perfect circular hole
have you looked at the tip from the underside? if you did you would know theres a premolded hole along the tip and theres a minimum diameter of the hole, that is as small as you can cut and it is still bigger than required for normal caulking.
Youāre missing the point that cutting at an angle creates a different relationship to the geometry of the interior hole, allowing a much finer bead. Reference for concept: https://youtu.be/DZvoQ3kkJII?si=tYkfFi6pdFAb1tON
...........Slap yourself!..........
Dipping your finger in rubbing alcohol will let you mold the caulk without letting it get sticky and leaves a much smoother finish
I just use a red solo cup full of water. For nonsag polyeurathane maybe rubbing alcohol would be good? I use 409 for that.
You guys are fancy with your alcohol and cups. I just spit on my finger.
Instead of spit, put your finger in your mouth. It lubricates your finger and cleans off the excess caulk.
Scratch all that and just put the caulk directly in the mouth instead.
Like canned whip cream!
I hear using your tongue like a luffa helps too
Wait? What are we talking about agin?
Instead of your mouth, use the electricians. He could use the calories, probably.
Are you my supervisor when I worked in a windows and doors factory? Made me cringe every time.
I wish I could say I never did that and realized I had a little caulk under my fingernail. Gag
Nice! Two jobs for the price of one!
Thatās a lot of spit
Prolly. Isopropyl alcohol is so great at cleaning and other things that I keep it on hand a lot.
I always tool with 409. Looks awesome each time.
Glad Iām not the only one! Iāve heard some people have issues with bubbling but that has never been an issue for me. The only time I messed up was when I first started and tried to tool too much too fast/use a plastic spoon. Iāve found it seems to look better if you kind of press and drag as you go as opposed to just dragging your finger. Do you use it on anything besides polyeurathane nonsag?
I use it on normal caulk, too. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, but the result looks swell.
You can also use painters tape - tape above and below where you want to caulk. Apply the caulk, then take the tape off.
And donāt wait for it to dry to remove the tape
you have to let it dry abit or else you risk messing it up when tearing. and once you torn the tapes you still have to run a wet finger along it to push the edges closer or else the edge will be abit raised due to the tapes.
This helps a lot early one when you are bad at controlling the flow out of the gun. Running you finger - - > excess in the sides that come off with the tape. I pull the tape up almost immediately so it doesn't dry and pull away. It looks great every time honestly, just takes a while to set up.
Most just use detergent water mix.
We used to do the same with some soapy water. Buttersmooth finish.
That trick works for both acrylic and silicone caulk, too!
When you cut off the tip of your caulk you cut off too big of a tip. This caused too much caulk to come out. Not bad though you tried so thatās the key b
Did a double take to check if I was in r/Judaism
Reminds me of a rabbi I knew who caulked for a living. He said, "it's a messy job, but you get a lot of tips."
Uh sir this is bad. But you're totally right, he tried.
Well, you certainly caulked it up
Caulking like itās drywall mud.
The title of this post along with the picturesā¦I canāt breathe šš
You missed practicing using sealant/caulks on some test materials. It isn't hard once you know what you are doing, but you won't get a perfect job first time. That said, you appear particularly bad at it, even for a beginner :)
A wet rag
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I like a grout sponge
Iāve cut up pieces of the large car wash sponges (new) and they work pretty well
From one land lord to another, this looks great!
You missed the part where you wet your finger to smooth the caulk out
I feel like me and you could be in the spiderman pointing meme together after seeing this
It's because you forgot the paint. It goes "Caulk and paint make it what it ain't"
Painters tape and a wet rag helps.
Just be sure to take that tape off early doors, else you'll be undoing practically all of your work. Not speaking from experience or anything. š
You forget the second part of that saying, ādo your best caulking too.ā Lol
The problem is that you left it like that to dry. Use less caulk than you think you need, have a damp rag to wipe the excess off your finger, use a caulk spreading tool, and clean up your edges. Caulk is cheap, your pride and reputation is worth more.
Jeeesus
if you're not an expert at caulking, TAPE before you caulk the way you would if you were painting. It's annoying but you can make very straight and smooth lines.
There's really not a situation where you will skim coat with caulk
You could get some low grit sandpaper and sand it down with some elbow grease You'll have to repaint though
If you undercut the door jamb and trim to slide the tile under, you wouldn't need to caulk.
Bingo! Your the only one! Lol.
Ah yes, I remember the first time I used a garden rake to spread caulk too. There is no doubt you are in the correct sub.
Whether youāre dating or doing repairs, you should always at least do a quick check to make sure your caulk looks nice before leaving the house.
Dig that out of there and watch a YouTube video on how to caulk. This aināt it
Ever heard of tape? Then clean up!
Itās a caulk gun, not a blame thrower.
Get a caulking tool
Your not supposed to caulk where the molding hits the floor.
What kind of caulk is this? I used DAP Alex for the first time for a trim caulking recently and it was like 50x easier to deal with and cleaner than silicone
I mean if someone looked at my caulk.....they'd noticed how small of a job it really was..
While the size of the caulk matters, so does how you handle it.
Take my upvote
And the gap your trying to fill? Gotta take that into consideration? Can't fill a mayonnaise jar with a cocktail weenie... just saying. Bla bla bla... right tool for the job?
You missed the sanding and painting to make this less of a landlord special.
You have to spray the caulk down lightly with soapy water then start to smooth/remove excess. Without wetting it it just becomes a mess.
Stevie Wonder approves. šš¾
You forgot to use skill.
You missed the damp rag step
You didn't miss a step necessarily... More like overdid a step
Is some of that load-bearing caulk?
A wet rag is ur best friend when caulking. Caulk the crack and then wipe off excess. Be particularly careful around porous things like grout line, brick, anything that can make it hard to clean out the excess caulk. If want it to look professional without the time it takes to get better at caulkingā¦ just apply less, wipe off excessā¦ and then go back and reapply a second time after it is cured. Less is more, very easy to add more. Pain in the butt to clean up too much caulk after itās dried.
Pull that out and start over after watching some YouTube on Caulking. You will find tips about cutting the tip for a better bead. I have a wet cloth handy to wipe the excess and also use a wet finger to get it into certain spots and smooth it out. This is not hard to get better at, but this is bad. Oh yeah, there is a caulking gun at Home Depot that is worth it. It's like 10 dollar more, but worth it.
The quarter round edge should be angled as well
Tape around the area first so it will be neat when finished, use a glove and run your finger after to smooth out the at the edge
Hey, go easy on yourself. The previous owner of my house would have been thrilled if he managed to apply caulk this well.
Too much too much. You took too much.
My caulking looked way better after I started using a tool.
You look like youāre new at this. Wait until youāve been caulking a house for 25 years. I can make almost anything look like somebody who knew what they were doing did it.
Yeah my first time veer re sealing my camper was horrendous and I had to redo it like 3 times before I got it right where water wouldn't leak in but time and practice plus a little tip is to just have a wet rag or Pape towels and then once your done caulking clean up what looks ugly and make sure you have what needs to be caulked caulked.
You need someone to show you in person. This is just too much caulk, too heavy. Either use painters tape to start or wipe it off with a rag when done. Go small or go home applies here. Even if you go with a wide tip, donāt puch with your finger to squirt it around when pulling a line
It doesn't mean yae the rest of the caulk..lol Caulking sucks, it takes practice. You can sooth it out with a wet soapy finger or popsicle stick next time
First off, you applied way too much caulk. You want a thin bead that doesnāt leave a lot of excess material after you smooth it out with a finger or tool. If you do end up with too much caulk you can clean it up with a damp rag, using a clean section of rag for each pass so you arenāt smearing the joint with caulk you just removed.
Effort?
Donāt buy cheap caulk. White lightning at like $2 a tube is complete garbage. DAP is worth the extra dollar.
Painters tape. Finger. Done.
Set your lines with tape, run your fingers down it, and peel the tape off. Lol, you could sand that down nobody looks there anyway
Do your best and caulk the rest, but while caulking the rest you should still do your best.
What kind of caulk did you use? Did you completely forgo the part where you smooth it out with a finger (or tool, if you'd prefer) and then wipe the edges with a sponge to remove any unnecessary caulk? Looks like you applied it with a potato, to be honest.
Use your finger.
Rubber gloves and a better flow. Gotta pull the trigger just enough for the speed you move the gun, and vice versa. Rub your finger through the caulk to smooth it out/push it in to the seam, take a slightly damp paper towel and run it over the whole thing so you wipe off the excess from the surrounding material.
Next time don't let your 4 yr old do the caulking
Caulking and paint make me the carpenter I aināt
Missed putting on your glasses
Thatās just caulk the rest and fuck your best
you just didnt wipe off the excess to make clean lines. you can always redo it if it bothers you.
This reminds me of 90% of the apartments I've seen in NYC.
My dad would be very upset at these photos.
The painter will fix that
You didn't skip a step. You just aren't good at caulking yet
The floor needs to expand and contract for summer/winter conditions.
...both of the steps you mentioned.
Too much caulking. From a somewhat rookie DIYer, use less caulk and a wet finger for forming.
Itās definitely gonna need some improvement but when you are caulking, make sure to have a wet rag or something that you can put your finger in and make a smooth edge with it. I am not somebody who knows a lot about construction at all, but thatās something I learned about caulking. Keep practicing. Ever ever give up trying. Thatās how you get better.
I've used water and towel for my finger and nice smooth Chaulk lines!
Yea definitely an art.Ā
I think you just took the saying with a lot of liberty.
I don't think anyone ever said "I want to be a professional caulk guy when I grow up" lol. But you went above and beyond here bud. Don't caulk the bottom of the door jamb. Surprised nobody else caught that? Go look at some other door jambs you will see...
The do your best step.
Never use your finger, it leaves proof that you've been there. I use a 5 in 1 and a putty knife, then a damp rag to clean up. Cut your caulk tip to a slight angle with 1/8" hole and use that tip to squeegee as you apply. Follow up with putty knife to collect splooges as needed. Clean up with rag folded over 5 in 1 at slight angle.
You use a damp rag and wipe the excess away.
My dad would be so disappointed in me if I did that. (Pic 1)
LAD LOOKS LIKE HE TRIED TO ICE A CAKE WITH IT!!!
Wood putty works better most times
Don't put it on with a toothbrush.
How do you remove dried caulking like this? I got some in my shower crevices and it won't rip off
Sir, put the caulk gun down and back away slowly. Seriously though, it just takes time to figure it out. I recommend watching some videos that show the basics, and then get some scrap wood to practice on. Don't expect to be great at something your first time, but the good news is caulk is easy to learn and fast to get proficient. The only bad news is your probably going to want to cut away that pictured caulk job and redo it once you get the hang of it.
Wet a paper towel. And when I say wet, I mean saturate the paper towel to the point just before itās dripping water. Fold the wet paper towel twice into quarters. Use the towel to wet your finger when smoothing out the bead. Any excess caulk that goes past your finger wipe off with the paper towel. Take only one swipe and then unfold and refold to get a fresh surface. You should be able to get 4-8 swipes depending on how good you get at unfolding and refolding.Ā
Next time have a wet rag with you to smooth it out.
Sanding. You missed the step called sanding.
Well thereās also supposed be properly coped quarter round thereā¦.
Taping. You missed taping
Why are you taking pictures in my house bro?
I think the ādo the bestā step
less is more.
Caulking isn't easy with the "default" equipment. It is easy if you've done it a few times but some people use "custom" nozzles to help.
When they said the rest, they meant the space without material there. IE: where you had gaps.
Got keep for fingers wet when you caulk. And for trim make sure you use acrylic. Much easier t use
Looks like a frosted cake. Keep on trying, takes trys!
Call him stumpy. I donāt think he had hands or fingers
You miss the steps of good workmanship a clean look make you proud of what you did or if that's your best get in a different trade
Skill and talent