You spent the warm weather months mowing, mulching, patching, painting, planting, prepping, watering, weeding, weatherizing and winterizing. Clearly, the cold quarter of the year leaves little choice but to rest, relax and retire from household upkeep. Not quite. If youve caught the handy bug in the doldrums of midwinter, consider caulking.Sure, the wintry chill may prevent you from wielding the caulking gun outdoors, but there are probably a few spots around your interior that could benefit from a good bead of caulk.This time of year, a lot of people are looking for projects to do, said Adam Schulz, with the midtown Home Depot. Since a lot of caulking needs to be done at 40 degrees or above, you may want to do your outdoor jobs when its nice out and hold off on the inside stuff until now.For caulking tasks in the winter, Schulz said, think less winterization and more energy savings and protecting.Homeowners should start from the top down, said Carey Evans, a professional interior designer, carpenter and regular contributor to HGTV.You definitely want to look for places in the attic that have any air leakage, Evans said. Youre spending all the money on heating your home, but the heat can be leaking right out.Evans suggests looking for spots in the attic with dirty insulation a tell-tale sign of an air leak. She also suggests examining the places where your roof meets your attic walls, around the chimney, and any other places where there are potential penetrations in the ceiling.Once youre done with your attic, you can work your way down throughout the house as well. Any gaps you have around the windows and doors, you can run a bead of caulk to really seal it up, she said.Whether youre starting high or low, Evans has ground rules for indoor caulking.I always recommend using a silicone caulk, she said. If you use an acrylic, it can shrink and lose its flexibility. Evans recommended General Electric Co.s Silicone II. She said it will expand and contract to maintain the seal. It also adheres to masonry, wood and concrete.Make sure the area where youll apply the caulk is very clean and very dry. Surfaces with loose material or heavy dirt will prevent proper bonding. Youll also need to make sure youve removed any old caulk from the gap you want to seal. Caulk wont stick to itself, so failure to remove all of the old caulk means a general failure on your caulking project.Removing caulk can be done with a nice blade, Evans said. There are some silicone removal solutions, but I find a little bit of elbow grease can get the job done.If youve run into some particularly stubborn old caulk, removal products, such as DAPs Silicone Be Gone, can help you out.Winter can also be a great time to examine the caulking around your kitchen and bathrooms. Signs that it might be time for a change, according to David Hawkins, a product service manager at the Lowes at Vivion and North Oak: bacteria and mildew growth which may also mean that you or a previous homeowner used the wrong caulking dried up and shrinking caulk with lots of gaps.Failure to maintain proper seals, particularly in the bathtub and shower, can mean big-bucks repairs down the road. A slow seep can cost hundreds of dollars in damages to thousands of dollars of damages, Hawkins said. If you have a tiled bathtub, it can mean big dollars to tear out and replace tiles.The rules for kitchen and bath caulking are largely the same as the guidelines for doors, windows, attics, etc. Naturally, theres a bit more emphasis on the dry surface element, however. Make sure your tub or shower has had a chance to dry out from its last use, use bleach or rubbing alcohol to take care of mold or mildew, and follow the manufacturers curing instructions before getting the new caulk wet.Home Depots Schulz suggests a $10 caulking tool from Husky to strip away the old caulk. As for applying the new stuff, make sure you have a mold/mildew resistant silicone, apply using a caulking gun and even pressure, and use a water-moistened finger to smooth out the bead for a professional, finished look. Dont forget any points where your sliding door frame may meet the wall or tub.The tools removers, guns, etc. and supplies such as a couple of tubes of caulk shouldnt run more than $40 total. One caveat on the silicone caulk: it cant easily be painted (though some manufacturers promote paintable silicones). If your goal is to use the caulk to cancel gaps around trim work and molding before painting, you should reach for the acrylics and latexes. All done with your project with caulk to spare? Evans suggests using wire nuts to seal the half-used tube, maybe with a bit of plastic wrap to provide that final seal.

KansasCity.com

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Caulk keeps winter’s cold at bay

Start in the attic and work your way down as you check for problem areas near doors and windows.

By JOHN SHULTZ

Special to The Star

Make sure you have a mold/mildew resistant silicone to touch up your tub and shower seals. Apply using a caulking gun and even pressure, and use a water-moistened finger to smooth out the bead for a professional, finished look

RESOURCES

• Carey Evans: careyevans.com

• DAP sealing help:sealyourhome.info

• GE sealing help:caulkyourhome.com

More News

Not quite. If you’ve caught the handy bug in the doldrums of midwinter, consider caulking.

Sure, the wintry chill may prevent you from wielding the caulking gun outdoors, but there are probably a few spots around your interior that could benefit from a good bead of caulk.

“This time of year, a lot of people are looking for projects to do,” said Adam Schulz, with the midtown Home Depot. “Since a lot of caulking needs to be done at 40 degrees or above, you may want to do your outdoor jobs when it’s nice out and hold off on the inside stuff until now.”

For caulking tasks in the winter, Schulz said, think less winterization and more energy savings and protecting.

Homeowners should start from the top down, said Carey Evans, a professional interior designer, carpenter and regular contributor to HGTV.

“You definitely want to look for places in the attic that have any air leakage,” Evans said. “You’re spending all the money on heating your home, but the heat can be leaking right out.”

Evans suggests looking for spots in the attic with dirty insulation — a tell-tale sign of an air leak. She also suggests examining the places where your roof meets your attic walls, around the chimney, and any other places where there are potential penetrations in the ceiling.

“Once you’re done with your attic, you can work your way down throughout the house as well. Any gaps you have around the windows and doors, you can run a bead of caulk to really seal it up,” she said.

Whether you’re starting high or low, Evans has ground rules for indoor caulking.

“I always recommend using a silicone caulk,” she said. “If you use an acrylic, it can shrink and lose its flexibility.”

Evans recommended General Electric Co.’s Silicone II. She said it will expand and contract to maintain the seal. It also adheres to masonry, wood and concrete.

Make sure the area where you’ll apply the caulk is very clean and very dry. Surfaces with loose material or heavy dirt will prevent proper bonding.

You’ll also need to make sure you’ve removed any old caulk from the gap you want to seal. Caulk won’t stick to itself, so failure to remove all of the old caulk means a general failure on your caulking project.

“Removing caulk can be done with a nice blade,” Evans said. “There are some silicone removal solutions, but I find a little bit of elbow grease can get the job done.”

If you’ve run into some particularly stubborn old caulk, removal products, such as DAP’s Silicone Be Gone, can help you out.

Winter can also be a great time to examine the caulking around your kitchen and bathrooms.

Signs that it might be time for a change, according to David Hawkins, a product service manager at the Lowe’s at Vivion and North Oak: “bacteria and mildew growth — which may also mean that you or a previous homeowner used the wrong caulking — dried up and shrinking caulk with lots of gaps.”

Failure to maintain proper seals, particularly in the bathtub and shower, can mean big-bucks repairs down the road.

“A slow seep can cost hundreds of dollars in damages to thousands of dollars of damages,” Hawkins said. “If you have a tiled bathtub, it can mean big dollars to tear out and replace tiles.”

The rules for kitchen and bath caulking are largely the same as the guidelines for doors, windows, attics, etc. Naturally, there’s a bit more emphasis on the “dry surface” element, however.

Make sure your tub or shower has had a chance to dry out from its last use, use bleach or rubbing alcohol to take care of mold or mildew, and follow the manufacturers’ curing instructions before getting the new caulk wet.

Home Depot’s Schulz suggests a $10 caulking tool from Husky to strip away the old caulk. As for applying the new stuff, make sure you have a mold/mildew resistant silicone, apply using a caulking gun and even pressure, and use a water-moistened finger to smooth out the bead for a professional, finished look. Don’t forget any points where your sliding door frame may meet the wall or tub.

The tools — removers, guns, etc.— and supplies — such as a couple of tubes of caulk — shouldn’t run more than $40 total.

One caveat on the silicone caulk: it can’t easily be painted (though some manufacturers promote paintable silicones). If your goal is to use the caulk to cancel gaps around trim work and molding before painting, you should reach for the acrylics and latexes.

All done with your project with caulk to spare? Evans suggests using wire nuts to seal the half-used tube, maybe with a bit of plastic wrap to provide that final seal.