Re-caulking the bathtub

Over the past week or so I have been re-caulking the bathtub in my bathroom. It shouldn't really take that long, but it's one of those jobs I've been putting off and dreading (I was supposed to have it done before Christmas). It didn't turn out so well, but I think it's at least finally done.

I did this in 2013, and ended up using some of that peel & stick stuff over the top of it in 2015. Don't ever use that stuff - it looks terrible later on. It's also a pain to try to remove. That was the hardest part of this job. 

So, it took me a couple days to get all the backing removed from the peel & stick stuff. I used 'Goo Gone' (or whatever that orange stuff is called). I didn't realize you needed to wash it afterward, so it was mostly just a goo-ey mess. I finally got it pretty clean.

Next I bleached the area and then used a rag and Mineral Spirits to further degrease. I got the supposedly low-odor kind, but it was still quite odoriferous. 

I let everything sit and dry thoroughly for several days. Not because it needed that long, but mostly because I'm just exhausted by the time I get home from work and do my run. I don't remember exactly how many days it just sat. I was using Jane's shower in the meantime (when I felt I had to).

Finally the day arrived. I had bought painters tape and caulk and for some reason decided to tackle it on a Saturday morning when Anna had a basketball game. This was not a good idea because I don't do well when rushed. I did it though. I put tape on both sides of where I was going to caulk and filled the tub with water and ran a bead around the top and sides of the tub. I smoothed it with a wet finger and we headed to the basketball game. This would prove to be the big mistake...

When we returned from the game I drained the tub and caulked along the floor. All that was left to do was pull off the tape. At this point I developed a sick feeling in my gut that maybe I should have pulled the tape off the top before we'd left. ...

Ugh. I should have. The tape came right off on the bottom where the caulk was fresh, and it looked really nice! Unfortunately, when I went to pull it off the top, where it had started to set, it didn't go so well. Obscenities were flying easier than tape was coming off, right along with great globs of caulk that had already started to dry. Grrr. I was not happy at being so stupid. I knew I should have looked it up.

Well, eventually I calmed down and took my cup of water and tried to smooth out what remained with a wet finger. It wasn't terrible from a distance, but I still wasn't sure it would suffice. So, I just let it sit another few days while I stewed.

Eventually I re-caulked right on top of the caulk just on the back side of the tub wall. It was really thin there and I was able to put a thicker bead on, so it should be okay. I debated about doing it around the entire top but finally just decided to be done with it. If I need to re-do it all in a few months I guess that's what I'll have to do.

In the end, it was not a very pleasant job and equally not so well done. But it's done, for now.

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"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21