Like any other room in your home, your bathroom will need regular maintenance to avoid having to pay for expensive repairs later. One of the most often overlooked areas is bathtub sealing. Caulking prevents water from entering the joints and seams between tiles or other areas of the sink. If the caulking becomes dry, cracked, or damaged, you may have to replace large areas of the tile. Entire rows can degrade due to water intrusion, and mold growth occurs frequently.

Caulk works because it is flexible and works like glue. This lets you keep the tiles in place and out of the water despite changes in the surrounding area due to humidity and temperature changes. The dam that needs replacing can be brittle, dry and cracked, soft, mushy, and moldy. In any case, you must remove the old caulk from the pot before properly applying the new material. Otherwise, the new dam task will not close properly, and all your effort will be wasted.

Clean the area where you will be working in advance with your usual bathroom cleaner. Then find out what type of dam was previously applied. The soft, rubbery caulk will likely be silicone, while the stiffer ones will likely be acrylic or latex. The type of kilk that’s already in your bathtub won’t affect what you deposit when you replace it, but it can make a difference in how you remove it. Silicone can be removed with a sharp knife, usually in one strip. Latex or acrylic/PVA caulk may need to be scraped off with a screwdriver, softened with a hot air gun, or removed with a rain-fed caulk product. Clean the area as best you can after removing the old material. You can also use a product to kill mold.

For a small job, you won’t need a caulking gun. Squeeze tubes are available that will work great for hobbyists. Make a small hole at the end of the tube to control the flow of the caulk and work carefully. The blemishes and scribbles in the dam work are noticeable and difficult to repair. Caulking is also available but can be difficult to apply in a straight line. Keep a damp sponge and wrap a paper towel to clean up spills and bubbles. Work in small areas and smooth the stamp with a damp finger as you finish each area.

It is important to make sure that enough time is allocated in the budget to do all the work at once. Caulk works best when applied in a single attempt rather than in stages. Also, make sure no one is using the tank while the dam is being treated. It would be best to leave it on overnight to ensure that the tank is well closed. Maintaining a bathtub will save you a lot of pain and money in the future.

 

For more information, contact Vinny’s Jersey Plumbing, located in Wayne, New Jersey.  We also service other towns in new jersey, such as Lodi, Parsippany and Rutherford.