Caulk Sucker
24 December 2006There are certain tasks that come with home ownership. When you’re getting ready to sell your home it’s time to kick it into high gear and knock out all those annual tasks you’ve been putting off … for years. One of the jobs that I’ve slowly been mastering is caulking the bathroom. For some reason I find particular joy in the look of a newly caulked shower. Maybe because by the time it gets done I’ve been staring too long at the peeling edges that are slowly turning black with mildew. It’s a constant reminder of a job that will take hours out of my life and a weekend of recovery for my back.
I’ve done our shower stall a few times since we moved in a few years ago since it gets regular use, and for the opposite reason never did the three bathtubs. Knowing that a good home inspector would ding us on the obvious age of the cracking caulking in the tubs it was time to tackle it. For those of you who have never caulked a tub you just don’t know what you’re in for.
The day starts with applying caulk remover which resembles the results of a bad sinus infection. After letting it eat away for a few hours you take a plastic spatula and a utility knife and scrape the congealed mess away from the tub. As an added bonus this job took some of the grout from the wall tiles with it.
The next step is cleanup and prep work. All the little booger-like tidbits that are lying around need to be cleaned off, and a good bleach solution or mold remover is applied to kill off any growth that may be lurking. Now it’s time to fix the grout that broke. Luckily I had some lying around but trying to squeeze it down into a 1/4 inch slot with a spatula is pretty challenging. I’m not sure that I did that great of a job, but did I mention that we’re selling the house?
Moving right along… Everything dried and the prep work continues. Taping is a pain in the ass. I hate doing it prior to painting and I hate it more before caulking. Tubs are small tight areas with lots of corners. If you don’t get the taping right it’s going to look like amateur hour when you’re done. By the time I get to taping my back is pretty trashed from bending over to do the clean up. It’s difficult to be patient and careful by this point.
I’m almost to the finish line. Out comes the trusty caulking gun, locked and loaded, ready for the easy part. The actual caulking only takes about 5 minutes before you’re ready to smooth out your line and pull the tape. It’s time to stand back, appreciate the bright white finish and load up on painkillers satisfied with the knowledge that I will never have to recaulk that tub again.
on December 26th, 2006 at 9:16 am
You make is sound so fun, I’m sorry I missed out!