The Power Of Caulking
When I started renovating our farmhouse, there is one product that I turned to time and time again to help transform a room. You guessed it, caulk. I honestly had never used it before and I didn’t realize the difference that it makes in a space. I kid you not, I have used caulking in every single room in my house.
If you are going to do a fresh paint job on your walls, get yourself some caulking. Installing trim? Grab the caulking. Updating your bathroom or kitchen? Make sure you are mentally prepared to begin the project; then get yourself caulking.
There are different types to use throughout your house. I will leave my top 3 favorites below and describe which ones were my favorite for which areas of the home and why. You can use a caulking gun, which in construction is what most people do. I found it easier to find the tubes of caulk where you snip the top off and squeeze the tube with your hand. I feel like it is easier to control that way. I also think that it keeps things cleaner and you have more precision in what you are doing.
Dap White Caulk- I used this for all of my interior trim work on the house. It worked incredibly and is still holding up. After I would install trim I would then caulk and paint after the caulking dried.
Dap Kwik Seal (White)- I used this anywhere that there was water. I used it around my kitchen sink and in my shower and bath area.
Dap Kwik Seal (Clear)- I used this in my bathrooms where I didn’t want to see the caulking. I put it around the shower handle and the tub spout.
Tips for using caulking:
Wear gloves
After applying your bead of caulk, run your finger over it to smooth it out. If you get any bubbles or an area where it clumps, get your finger wet and do it again
Baby wipes work wonders. If you get a little too much caulk in one area and need to remove it, just smooth it out with your finger inside a baby wipe. I won’t caulk anything anymore unless I have the baby wipes next to me.
If there is a gap that is too wide to caulk, I guarantee you can still get by with caulking it. They have foam tubing that you can fill a gap with and then caulk over. This stuff is seriously amazing. If you don’t have any on hand, use toilet paper. Sounds weird but it works. Roll it up like a burrito and shove it in the crack. Then fill the caulk over the gap. This method has saved me so many times in a pinch.