Quick Question About Caulking

I am re-doing the caulking in my bathroom where the tub and shower is. In some places is was pulling away from the wall and moldy. I have pulled all that out cleaned it up and re-done it. In other places the caulking is not so bad but will have to be re-done sometime in the next while. My question; in the places where it is not so bad can I just go over top of the old caulking without pulling it all out? Or do I need to pull it all out before I put new caulking in?

Alex Reid said:

I am re-doing the caulking in my bathroom where the tub and shower is. In some places is was pulling away from the wall and moldy. I have pulled all that out cleaned it up and re-done it. In other places the caulking is not so bad but will have to be re-done sometime in the next while. My question; in the places where it is not so bad can I just go over top of the old caulking without pulling it all out? Or do I need to pull it all out before I put new caulking in?

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I don't really know the "official" answer, but I always think if you are going to the bother at all, you may as well do it all. I have always completely re-done caulk (strip out the old) on windows in rooms I have painted, so in a bathroom, I think it is probably even more important, given the wet conditions.

Just seems easier to make it all the "same" now, so you don't have to keep re-doing sub-sections later. IMHO.

Sharon Korn said:

I don't really know the "official" answer, but I always think if you are going to the bother at all, you may as well do it all. I have always completely re-done caulk (strip out the old) on windows in rooms I have painted, so in a bathroom, I think it is probably even more important, given the wet conditions.

Just seems easier to make it all the "same" now, so you don't have to keep re-doing sub-sections later. IMHO.

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What she said +1.

And one hint. FWIW, my ex-father-in-law who is a retired electrician and Master Mr. Fix-it, always uses a piece of peeled raw potato to smooth out caulk.

Cynthia White said:

What she said +1.

And one hint. FWIW, my ex-father-in-law who is a retired electrician and Master Mr. Fix-it, always uses a piece of peeled raw potato to smooth out caulk.

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Great tip Cynthia.

Whew! I'm glad to see you're not asking about caulking your guitar.

Alex Reid said:

Cynthia White said:

What she said +1.

And one hint. FWIW, my ex-father-in-law who is a retired electrician and Master Mr. Fix-it, always uses a piece of peeled raw potato to smooth out caulk.

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Great tip Cynthia.

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Makes for extra-chewy French fries, too.

+1 more for the cut it all out and re-do the whole thing recommendation.

Vaughn McMillan said:

Makes for extra-chewy French fries, too.

+1 more for the cut it all out and re-do the whole thing recommendation.

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I always thought the potato was so clever. He would whittle down a piece to exactly the shape he wanted for the job at hand.....we didn't usually eat them afterwards......

I have caulked a lot of bathrooms. If you go over anything this is slightly moldy, it will fail not too long down the road. If the caulking is good and very clean and looks nice, then you can but right up to it or even go over it a ways.

It is always asking for trouble, in my book, to go over old caulking if doing more than just a small repair or touch up.

I also, once the old caulking is removed, spray a bleach solution on the areas to be caulked then rinse with water, let dry, then caulk. I've never had any failures on the jobs that I've done this to go back and redo any of the job.

One thing I do when the caulking has to be perfect, I use blue tape on both sides of what is to be caulked, smooth out the caulking exactly how I want then remove the tape. If you spaced the tape right there will be a perfect line and no ridge on the edges of the caulking. I usually do this at the tube to floor transition when someone left a larger than normal gap at the flooring to tub transition. Around the wall to tub I usually don't.

Just my two cents!

And thanks for the new recipe Cynthia and Vaughn! I never thought of using caulking on my french fries before! Good old stick to your ribs food!

Similar to what Brian said about using blue tape...

I tried using the green Frog tape (designed to work with textures better) when I painted regular walls that needed to transition from one color to another on a textured surface. The tape works wonders (blue tape would probably work too if you allow more slack)...but if you smear some paintable caulk on the edge, then paint, let dry...the line turns out perfect...

Just wet you finger with spit Alex and use that for putting the corner on the caulk. Get all of it out as the mold will come back if you don't. as well it will give you a cold joint between the caulks.