How to properly caulk a bathtub?

The caulk around the bathtub is starting to come out and probably needs to be redone. I was watching a few Youtube videos and they suggest using a scraper to remove the old caulk before applying the new caulk.

The risk they said was possible damage to the tiles or the tub.

Can you just place new caulk on top of the old caulk or do you have to remove the old caulk first?

Thank you

 

Welcome!
Hold on for more advice, caulk is a skill.
All caulk needs removed. A window scraper is good for ceramic tile and a porcelain tub, hold it at a low angle.
I scrape off all old caulk and clean with denatured alcohol.
Apply new silicone caulk and tool it with your finger or a tool. Wipe off excess with denatured alcohol and cloth rags.

If your old caulk is adhesive type, it will probably be very hard to cut.

 

IMO you don't need to remove ALL the caulk but the more you can remove the better! Sometimes you can cut the caulk and pull it right out, other times you have to fight with it The cleaner the tile/tub is the better the new caulk will adhere. Using a little care will prevent damaging the tiles/tub.

 

Thank you folks for your responses.

I recognise that removing the old caulking or at least some of it is the ideal process, but is there any disadvantage in leaving it in place and just placing new caulking over top of it?

My thought is that if I'm going to do this bathroom, I'd like to do all of them and I'm a bit leary about messing around to much.

Thank you

 

I thought the question was how to "properly" caulk a bathtub. That was answered by Handyone.

Must not have been what you wanted to hear. People are always looking for short cuts.

The disadvantages of caulking over the old caulk is that a bead of caulk needs a clean surface to adhere to... not dirty old caulking. You also would not want to try to caulk over the top of any mold. And just as important, a bead of caulking needs to be a certain size in order to perform as advertised. You generally can't do that unless you remove the old caulk... because that is likely the size of bead that your new caulk needs to be. Smearing caulking 1/16" thick over the top of the old just to cover it up so that it "looks new" will likely not last long. If you don't want to revisit this again in a short time, take the time to prep the surface correctly.

 

To clarify I didn't mean that it's no big deal to caulk over the old caulking but rather it's ok if little pieces of old here and there that are well secured are left in place. As X said the new caulk has to have a certain amount of contact with the substrate for it to hold up long term.

 

I didn't mean to leave your comments out Mark... I knew what you meant- try to get as much off as possible, even if you can't get it all, try to remove most of it.

 

Thank you Mark, we have some another plumbing issue at our home at this time, so I think I'm going to call someone out and while he is onsite, I'll ask him to give us an estimate to caulk all of our bathrooms and sinks in the home.

It's been 15 years since the bathrooms have had caulk reapplied, would this be a reasonable request for the plumber that we call?

Thank you

 

It's a reasonable request. The plumber might advise you hire someone else.
Some plumbers "need" to charge $100/HR or more and it's not practical.

 

.... and not everyone is proficient at caulking!

 

I have very little comfort with home repair and feel more comfortable having someone come out.

I do have a plumber coming by tomorrow for an unrelated issue and I will get an estimate as well as share it on the board.

Just from your experience, what should I expect in terms of time needed and/or cost to have 3 bathtubs and 5 sinks cauked?

 

A lot will depend on how long to get them ready for caulking. Applying the caulk itself takes very little time.