I was trying all day to re-chauk my bathtop... but... I got a big mess with that white stuff. Just what is the correct way to do it? It seems to be very difficult for this monkey to make the chauking thing look smooth and nice.

 

something is wrong with me

 

The secret is using a wet cloth and a bucket of water.

Certainly try not to apply too much, but don't worry if you do.

Take the wet cloth and remove the excess caulk while pressing into the area you want the caulk to be. If you get a lot of caulk on the cloth, rinse it out in the bucket and start again.

You should be good to go.

 

Exactly!!! I have to squeeeze the white stuff out. And oh man! they do come out alot!!!

 

Caulk

When you cut the tip off the tube, makre sure you cut only a tiny bit off. Too big a tip and it makes the mess you described.

Wet your finger and run it along the corner to get the smoothest finish. Periodically wipe off the caulk from your finger then wet it again.

 

tried that. didn't work. It seemed that it required quite a bit of practice for this monkey to do it right.

I also got a DAP CAP. Same thing. Not easy to use.

 

I never had a problem applying it. I just re-did my tub. I cleaned the hell out of it first and it applied OK. I let it dry for about a week before I used it. The joys of having a second bathroom. The problem is that the chauk seems to be coming off in 2 areas. So pissed....I really didn't want to do it again.

 

You're using latex caulk and not silcone, right? Latex is pretty easy and if you screw up, you can use a wet rag to remove it and start over. But silicone can be a mess if you don't know what you're doing.