Friday, February 22, 2013

Head Over Heels DIY Friday: From DIY Caulk Lines- From Crud to Kitchen & Bath Glory

Hey everyone, it's Mr. H&HH here with a simple yet oh so essential DIY tip.  I decided to take over this DIY Friday since Carla left out an oh-so-simple and essential DIY tip from our faucet replacement yesterday...

How many of us have tackled a kitchen or bath project only to be disappointed with the caulk lines that result from those trusty orange “dripless” caulk guns? I know I have! So embarrassingly, I would try to keep everyone from seeing the lines or would hope to distract them with a subtle “HEY, LOOK OVER HERE!!”. Well, I will be filled with the shame of a bad (lumpy, pot holed, uneven, etc…) caulk line no more!

While researching install tips for our butcher’s block countertops, I stumbled across a tip on an IKEA fans forum that suggested the use of painters tape to prevent getting any epoxy or wood glue where you don’t want it. It seemed too simple. It seemed impossible. Could this technique be applied elsewhere? I knew I had to try.

Using a razor blade/utility knife I began to strip away the shame and regret from my bathroom sink.

Now, with the old caulk removed and the battle lines clearly defined in my favorite blue tape, I was ready to spread the caulk! I held my breath as I pulled the trigger on my orange weapon of choice. No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn’t keep an even, straight line. But it shouldn’t matter right? I had my magical blue friend ready to take care of me.

The next thing to do was wet my finger (spit worked fine and it drove the ladies wild, ha) and smooth out the caulk line in one smooth sweep…
Now, the moment of truth – Removing the painters tape. This is important to do when the caulk is still wet or you’ll have a whole new set of problems.

Ta-Dahhhh! Perfect, even smooth lines. Heck, I might even be sure to point them out to visitors now :-)

Oh before I go, Carla said I had to add this thing to the DIY Friday post...

Hope you enjoyed that DIY tip!  Happy Friday!

6 comments:

  1. Awww! Where were you last weekend when I caulked my bathtub and kitchen back splash? Would have been nice to know – hopefully I'll remember next time. Thanks for the tip.
    Amanda

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    1. Darn! Sorry about that :) but hey if there's some caulk lines that didn't turn out nice you can always peel it off and do a new line, kind of like Alex did for our bathroom faucet redo. He didn't have to do that part to add the faucet but he knew he could fix that line of caulk :) Hope you can use the tip too someday!

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  2. And it drives the ladies wild. Hahaha! Alex, you're such a dork. I imagine you dressed like the dreamy Conrad Birdie from the musical, Bye, Bye Birdie and all the girls around you are swooning as you caulk stuff. The mental image is too much.

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    1. LOL!!!! So, it's sad I am not familiar with that musical reference since I love musicals, but that made me (and Alex) laugh out loud :) Maybe I'll have sassy dreams about Alex caulking stuff, haha!

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  3. I noticed the painter's tape right away:) I stored it away for future use, in the ole mental file under "aha!" Great idea!

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    1. Oh, from the first post then? Nice you caught it! Alex thought it was a shame that I didn't talk through it, bug glad he got a blog moment :)

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