Get The Crispiest Caulking Seal With This Incredible Gadget
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Whether you're caulking a bathtub, baseboards, or around windows, it's important both functionally and aesthetically that you get a clean seal. Caulk is used to essentially fill the small gaps in an installation, helping to prevent air or water from leaking in, but it's also a necessary step to get that fully finished clean look. Applying caulk is easy — all you need to do is squeeze a line with a convenient caulking gun — but smoothing out the edges can be much more difficult. Several DIY approaches to achieving that perfectly crisp finish have grown popular over the years but none have guaranteed success quite like one particular gadget: a caulk finishing tool.
Making an additional purchase at the home improvement store when all you need to do is smooth out a line of paste could understandably seem unnecessary, but this Instagram video posted by @_a_little_change might change your mind. The creator is completely renovating her Cape Cod home and uses the finishing gadget when applying a bit of caulk to seal the connection between a built-in bookcase and the wall. After running a bead of caulk straight down, the DIYer follows it up with a simple swipe of a caulk finishing tool. In a matter of seconds, the caulk is completely smoothed out and blended into the wall — no harsh lines, difficult maneuvering, or messy hands necessary.
How to use a caulk finishing tool for DIY
When using a caulk finishing tool, as long as you clean off any excess caulk that's built up on the tool's tip between jobs, you should be left with seamless caulk application each time — no matter where you need to caulk in and around the home. The pointed end of the tool is also helpful to ensure you won't be left with any excess product in corners, a common issue when using your finger or the back of a spoon to smooth out a bead of caulk.
The exact tool @_a_little_change uses in the above Instagram is the Project Source 2-Pack Caulk Finishing Tool, available at Lowe's for $5.48. It includes the previously mentioned caulk finishing tool as well as a sharper metal tool that's helpful for removing old caulk that's already dried. If you do your shopping at a different hardware store, however, there's no need to worry. The Home Depot carries this similar Homax 2-Piece Caulk Finishing Set for $7.38, while ACE Hardware stocks an 8-piece DAP Pro Caulk Black Professional Plastic Caulking Tool Kit for $15.99 that includes a similar smoother. Amazon, meanwhile, has a Homax Perfect Bead Caulk Finisher for around $7 if you're just looking for an individual caulk finishing gadget.