Re-caulked the bathtub

Yesterday I tackled another job that I'd been needing to do for quite some time. I re-caulked the bathtub/shower in my bathroom. It mostly needed it redone along the floor, but I figured if I was going to do that I might as well redo it around the whole tub. It turned into a bit longer of a job than I was planning on, but applying the caulk was actually the easiest part. I think it took me about 5 hours, but that included preparation and cleanup, a trip to Menards, lunch, and a few other detours. It turned out pretty well though.

I had gone to Menards the day before and bought a tube of white bathroom tub & tile caulk. I also bought some press-in-place caulk for along the floor, but didn't end up using it. I will take it back today. So yesterday I began about 11:30 taking off the old caulk. I used a carpet knife, putty knife, and razor blade scraper to do that. This was probably the most difficult part of the whole job. Who knows how long the old stuff had been on there. I thought about buying some caulk remover, but it was $5, so I just did it the old fashioned way. I made quite a mess, but cleaned it up along the way with a hand broom.

Once the old caulk was removed I took an old toothbrush and using a mix of water and chlorine bleach I cleaned the crevices real good to remove any mold or mildew. Then I let it dry for awhile. Then I took a blow dryer and made sure it was good and dry everywhere.

After drying the tub and all the cracks and crevices well I then took some painters tape and taped off both sides of where I was going to caulk. I wouldn't have thought of this had I not looked it up online beforehand, but it really did help. Then I filled the tub with water so it would be at its heaviest (not sure if this really made a difference or not). Of course, when I filled the tub with water it splattered in a few places, so I needed to dry around the top again.

Once it was taped and dried, it was time to apply the new caulk. I got a pan of warm water with a little Dawn dish soap in it to dip my finger in to smooth the caulk after it was applied. Then I cut the end off the tube of caulk, and started applying. It actually went so well that that's when I decided to just use the tube to caulk along the floor too. Once I was done, I smoothed it all out with my wet finger, pulled off the tape while the caulk was still fresh, and it was done. I do have to say, it looks a whole lot better; and I'm glad I used the tape.

I let it sit overnight, but it should be good to go this afternoon. All in all it wasn't really difficult, just more time consuming than I anticipated. Next week I will tackle the shower in Jane's bathroom. Today I may do some outside painting that I've been putting off. We'll see.