Wear and tear will eventually cause silicone joints to deteriorate and begin to look unsightly. Removing the old cracked and discoloured silicone and putting in a fresh joint is an easy way to rejuvenate a kitchen or bathroom, indeed any area where a silicone joint is found.
Our tips:
- Scrape out most of the old silicone. An old screw driver, a razor knife, or a paint scraper are all useful tools for this task.
- Clean and dry the area on both sides of the gap to be sealed thouroughly.
- Load a caulking gun with the correct type of silicone for the site you are working on. There are different types for kitchens, bathrooms, outdoors and near swimming pools.
- Fit a nozzle to the silicone tube and use a razor knife to cut the end off at about a 45 degree angle. Make the hole you cut a good size to the size of the gap you plan to fill.
- Fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
- Place the nozzle of the caulking gun against the gap at one end of the section to be filled. Start in a place which allows you to work by pushing the gun along the gap and away from your body. Exert a steady pressure on the gun trigger as you work along the gap keeping the flow of silicone just right to smoothly fill the gap.
- When the gap is completely filled all the way along use the spray bottle to squirt the soapy water all around the area you have filled with silicone. Run a finger along the silicone starting at the end where the caulking gun finished and working all the way to the start. This pushes the silicone into the gap, removes excess silicone, and smoothes the finish of the job. As you work keep some rags or waste paper handy to wipe the silicone off your finger. The soapy water prevents the silicone from sticking to the surfaces either side of the gap.
