Your bathroom may not be that old yet, but once the caulking around your tub or shower begins to split, your bathroom will begin looking dingy. Re-caulking will breathe fresh life into your bathroom, but you can’t just pull out the caulk gun and get started.
(Pixabay / jarmoluk)
Here are some important preparatory steps:
- Loosen – If you are in a hurry to finish your re-caulking project, you might be tempted to remove the unsightly parts of the caulk and lay down new caulk on top of the old remnants. This won’t give you the clean finish that you’re hoping for. Rather, you should apply caulk remover and wait for a minimum of two hours. If you can wait for up to 24 hours, that’s even better.
- Remove – After waiting for the caulk to soften, use a caulk removal tool and start scraping out the old caulking. Do not use a utility knife unless you are experienced. Otherwise, you might end up damaging your bathtub or the bathroom tiles.
- Clean – You should be able to remove the caulking in big pieces. However, small bits of caulking will most likely remain. Use an old brush to get rid of the remaining bits of caulk. After this, you should sterilize the area with alcohol. When the alcohol dries out, wash the area with a solution made of one part bleach and three parts water. The purpose here is to kill any mildew or mold that might be lying within the cracks.
- Apply new caulk – You can now proceed with laying down the new caulk.
Re-caulking doesn’t take long, and it can do a lot to improve the look of your bathroom. Just make sure that you take the necessary steps to clean out the old residue before you begin the caulking process.