Caulk is used in many fields as well as commercial and home maintenance projects to prevent air, steam, liquid, water, or gas from entering (or escaping) between two materials. Caulk is a pliable, physical compound that creates seals that are not only airtight and watertight, but also non-porous.

If you’re working on a Las Vegas home maintenance project that requires caulk, you can relax in the fact that caulking is one of the easiest home maintenance applications you’ll ever do! Simply follow these steps to create that needed seal between two materials:

• First, if part of your home maintenance project requires you to replace caulk that is old or discolored over time, you must first remove that old caulk before you can add new sealant. If you don’t completely remove the old caulk, your caulking efforts will be in vain since you won’t be able to create the tight seal that you need.  Years ago, home maintenance aficionados used a razor scraper to remove old caulk; today, there are lots of products available that quickly soften the old caulk and make it a breeze to remove with a putty knife.
• Next, once you have removed all the old caulk, clean the area with a paint thinner.
• Once the paint thinner has dried, you can begin caulking.  You’ll need either a caulking gun, a standard tube of caulk, or caulk strips. If you opt for the gun or the tube as your means of application, you’ll either want to cut the cone-shaped tip of the caulk cap at an angle and make it small (or big) enough to perfectly fit the gap of the area you are caulking, or you’ll want to buy the appropriately-sized nozzle. In addition, you might want to practice on some plywood first just to see how you’ll need a steady hand and a good eye in order to lay down a smooth, evenly-dispersed bead of caulk.
• If you opt to use caulk strips, you simply unroll them and press them down into the space that needs to be caulked. They are a fool-proof solution if you’re in a hurry, doing a stand installation, and/or just don’t feel comfortable using the traditional caulk gun or tube.

For home maintenance projects, caulk is regularly used around windows, applied between kitchen sink borders and countertops, and used to seal toilets, bathtubs, and sinks in bathrooms. 

Visit our blog for additional Las Vegas home maintenance tips, or check out the other parts of our “Home Repairs Everyone Should Know” series: Unplugging a Clogged Toilet.

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