Just like a Wild West cowboy with a fast and lethal trigger finger, in the world of Moregeous, my caulking finger is a skilled, faithful and unsurpassed weapon in my armoury of decorating. Well, it was until Granuloma Annulare attacked, hence the lumpy bumpy never-make-it-to-a-hand-cream-commercial digit you see in the pictures.
But it still has it’s moments, and what follows is a quick dip into the world of the Worlds No.1 Caulking Finger:
Dean decided to have upvc windows installed to the rear elevation and kitchen, as the windows were in a pretty dire state. Having just had a quote for timber windows at Rose Cottage, I can attest to the reasoning for plastic even though it’s minging, new timber is so expensive in comparison. This country’s wiped out it’s small joinery manufacturers over the past 20 years with lack of investment, training in skills and workshop land & units developed for housing, so makers are few and far between, and prices have rocketed.
However the front elevation are in pretty good nick, with lovely original stained glass, so could be kept… with a bit of tlc.
Above are the tools you will need: caulking gun (get metal not plastic, and an extra long one for trade caulk), I use Dulux trade caulk as it’s not too sloppy like the B&Q one or ££ like the branded makes and you can get it wet & still work it (baby)), a tub of water to dip your finger in, plus scraper and old dry brush to get the bits out of the corners / off the glass after scraping.
First picture above is the old caulk scraped out, and any paint on the window scraped off, then thoroughly wash the windows (use Cif and a tooth brush to get into corners), rinse and allow to totally dry or your caulk won’t get a good adhesion. The dark lines you see above are the old lead on the outside of the window.
Then you carefully run a line of the caulk (only cut a small hole in the nozzle with a stanley knife) down and around the edges of the window – be careful but if it doesn’t look perfect don’t worry too much, just keep it into the edges and corners as above left.
Above right – wet your index finger ( I hope you have a nicer one than me… for men, nail varnish is not obligatory) and run it smoothly in one motion top to bottom down over the caulk, so you are effectively pressing the caulk into the window edges. If you window is over about 70cm you may need to re-wet your finger. Don’t get the caulk too wet, but a decent caulk will take a bit of manipulation. If you get it wrong, don’t put more new caulk over the stuff you’ve just wet, it won’t stick. Wipe the mistake away with a dry tissue / cloth and just do that section again.
When you get to the corners, wipe your finger on your pants ( ok, you can use a cloth, but I use my pants) wet it again, and just neaten the corner by pressing any excess outwards. Because your finger’s wet, it doesn’t get sticky and gungy everywhere.
So, you’ve now done all your edges and your window should look like the above right!
Leave it to dry overnight, then prime, and paint.
And so endeth the caulking gospel according to Me.
