Steps to Take While Re-Caulking a Kitchen Counter to a Backsplash

Re-caulking a poorly done kitchen counter and backsplash joint can be quite simple to do if you know exactly what to do

For one reason or the other you may need to re-caulk the seal between your kitchen counter and your kitchen backsplash. May be it wasn’t done well the first time around or maybe long term use has caused some damage and re-caulking is necessary to give your kitchen a great new look once more. Whatever the case may be, the following steps will help you regain that awesome new look once more and prevent any damage to your backslash tiles and kitchen counter top.

Whether you are dealing with a ceramic backsplash or a mosaic backsplash tile, the first thing to do is to remove the existing caulk. To remove the excessive caulk, use a knife, blade, scrapper or plastic putty knife to get rid of all the caulk that will get in the way of the new caulk that you want to apply. As you remove the caulk use just enough pressure to remove only the caulk and avoid damaging the tiles. The next step is to clean the surfaces where you wish to do the re-caulking. The best cleaning agents to use will often be alcohol based cleaners and if you have access to some thinner you can try that as well. Before you use a product that you are not sure is specific to the job at hand, try by using it on a small sample region so as to be confident about the results that you will get when you use the product on the rest of the surfaces that you need to clean. Once you have cleaned the surfaces thoroughly, inspect the surfaces that you have cleaned and make sure that there is no underlying damage that could be causing the caulk not to attach itself as it should. For example, the wall could have somehow absorbed water that could be causing the caulk not to bond as it should. Ensure that all the surfaces are thoroughly dry before proceeding to the next steps.

The next step should be to add the contact cement to the areas that you wish to repair. If you are dealing with a white backsplash tile, you may need to be extra careful so that you don’t unwantedly stain the tile or damage it because it is often a very fragile tile. You can keep things clean by masking off the area that you wish to protect the caulk from spreading to. Masking tape will often do a great job and it is easy to apply and remove. The next step is then to ready the caulk and to apply it. To do so, first of all pierce the tube of caulk that you wish to use according to the instructions of the product that you wish to use and then add a thin edge of the caulk over the area you wish to re-caulk. The masking tape that you applied should give you a good margin of error to do a good clean job by the time you peel off the masking tape.

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