Caulking or applying sealant around your house may be a minor thing but it’s a huge step to ensuring that you make sure your home is improved and energy-efficient. This is why you need to consider things carefully and know what to do and what not to do when it comes to caulking your home. You can caulk your home on your own, or hire a professional to do it for you. But whichever option you choose to go for, you need to know what you’re getting yourself into beforehand, in order to do a reliable and proper follow up. This is why this article will tell you everything you need to know when it comes to caulking, and more specifically, the 5 important things you need to know when caulking your house.
1- Choose the Right Caulk
Choosing the right caulk is important to make sure that you get the job done right. There are many different caulk and sealant products. A reason why is because different caulk products are intended for different caulking tasks. Which is why you might find your head on a swivel, dazed and amazed, standing in the isles of your local home improvement store. Depending on what part of your house you intend to apply caulk to, will determine which caulk product you should opt to buy. So make sure you know what home improvement you intend to go with, before making any caulk or sealant purchase.
2- Don’t Put New Caulk Over Old Caulk
One of the big No-No and Must Don’ts of caulking is to apply new caulk where old caulk lies. If the old caulk is falling apart, then running a bead of new caulk onto it will just leave with you a mess of old caulk and new caulk, and without a properly sealed fixture or hole. What you want to do is scrape the old caulk off with a knife and make sure you have a clean surface to apply the new caulk. That way the two don’t mix, and you allow the new sealant to settle and take its effect.
3- Where You Should Caulk
A big question a lot of people get stuck with is which part of their home should they apply sealant to. For instance, the places that you should immediately consider caulking are your exterior windows and interior windows. This will help your home preserve heat and make it more energy-efficient. It will also help keep out any bugs or insects. Then you want to move on to caulking the corners of your house, in case they seep in any air or let in any unwanted visitors. After that, you want to apply caulk to any humid rooms that you may have in your home or apartment. Caulking rooms with high humidity, like bathrooms, will require caulk that is both waterproof and mold resistant, and this will help make your bathroom less humid.
4- Be Careful If Your Calking On Your Own
If you do opt for a Do It Your Own project then you want to be careful when applying the caulk to your fixtures. There are a lot of tools that you need to use like sharp knives to cut the caulk, and a caulking gun to apply the caulk. These tools may be new to you so you want to know your way around them before going through with any house caulking installation. If you’re unsure about how to use any of the tools, or how to properly apply the caulk, then a good suggestion would be to tag in the services of a professional this one time and take notes for future preferences.
5- Give It Time To Dry
Once you’ve finished applying sealant or caulk, there is one more important thing left to do. Whether you’re performing commercial caulking to your office or residential caulking to your home, when you’re finished with the entire process it’s important to give the caulk time to dry. It usually takes 24 hours for caulk to try but sometimes it takes longer. So don’t wake up the next morning poking a finger into the caulk expecting it to be rock solid. Give it a couple of days before you test to see its effectiveness.
