I needed to remove the old caulking between the backsplash and the counter. I found a really neat tool at Lowe's that made this task very quick and easy! Originally I had tried a razor blade, but without much success.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How do I remove old caulk from a bathtub? I have a tool but the caulk is so hard I can't remove it.
Wanda from Dayton, OH
Caulk-B-Gone. You can purchase it at Home Depot for under $5 a tube. It is in the same section as the caulk. Squeeze it on the old caulk and let it sit for a short time and it will soften the old hard stuff and make it easy to remove.
Have you tried using your hair dryer to soften it? Good Luck!
If you're a "Penny-pincher" as I am, use a hammer & chisel to remove the hard stuff. Just be careful not to use a lot of muscle when hammering- tap the chisel.
This should remove most of the caulk. Finish by using a putty knife or scraper. Be sure to thoroughly clean the area with alcohol. This removes the 'oily' residue and helps the caulk adhere.
I live in a condo and have an outside balcony with sliding glass doors. The outside area (around the very top of the doors) has about a 6 foot line of "very chunky and thick" yellow caulking running across it. I've already taken the route of asking for help from complex, but to no avail.
I've tried to cover it up with homemade banners and then foliage from Michael's but, it's still very obvious...hard to reach and whatever is up there blows away.
Does anyone have any ideas or experience? It really really looks bad if you're sitting out there and once you come upon the condo (looking from the outside).
Thanks ahead!
If you live in a condo the condo is responsible for the outside. Contact the maintenance department or whoever is responsible for such things. That is why you pay a monthly maintenance fee.
You have to be very careful in what you do to the outside of this condo. I am afraid that any work has to be done by the complex. You could try taking pictures and sharing them with condo maintenance/association.
Condo's are notoriously difficult to work with, especially if you're renting. The owner likely cares only about getting your payment -- unless the homeowner's association fines them for "outside appearance" violations. So, again assuming you're a renter, you could ask an owner to bring this to the attention of the Board. Another thought might be, if you intend to stay there for multiple leases, to offer to split the cost of repair with the owner if the Board can broker that on your behalf, and you could pay a little on it each month with your rent.
All that said, I saw this tip on a handyman site: "The best solution for yellow and caulking is spraying it with bleach water mix and putting saran wrap over top and letting it sit until it's white again." However, as another commenter noted -- if this damages the caulk you could be held responsible. Best to try on a small area first. Good luck!
What's interesting to me about this situation is that if you accidentally managed to destroy or break the glass doors, the management would get a clue and actually do their job viz a viz fixing the bad caulking job.
Barring that, you could fix it yourself on the sly by removing the bad caulking with an exacto knife and putting it in anew.
Maybe you could cover it up with some Flex-Seal, or paint with a type of paint that will work on flexible materials like that. Good luck!
How do I remove caulking from my shower?
NC from CA
There is a remover you can purchase at your local hardware store, goo gone is also an option. In addition they actually make a triangle type scraper that will remove the remainder of the goo.
How do I remove rubberized caulk from chrome faucet?
Cissy from Tulsa, OK
Hi Cissy,
have you tried to carefully cut it away with a razor scrapping tool? That's what my dad (a licensed plumber) does and my son, (a card carrying plumbing apprentice) when they reset my fixtures.
Here's a tip too, bleach products are apparently very bad to use on Chalk sealants. I know because I loved my bleach pen in the bathroom, but it didn't love me, LOL. Both explained (repeatedly) how it should NEVER be used on sealant as they replaced it all cause the bleach made it come off all the places it wasn't supposed to, including the seal around the bottom of the toilet.
Good luck
Fickle
What's the best way to remove caulk in a shower between the tile and aluminum glass frame so that the new caulk will seal completely?
By Andrew M.
