Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

31 October 2011

Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

I just received this email, so forgive me if it's so late in response. I did use a light to examine the walls and eventually it did work as long as I shone it in the right direction. On the other hand, the lack of shimmer on the patchwork did not show up except in the sunlight. Well, yes, it's been a learning experience. Thanks for your answer. :-)

From: Roger <frontierrog@yahoo.com>
To: "DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com" <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

I believe he may have been talking about something like a lamp. If you have a torchiere lamp that you can tilt over there to shine light on it that might work. A worklight would be best, but many people don't have one of those.

From: Cindi Waters <clean_boost@yahoo.com>
To: "DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com" <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

Yes, Lee, I tried that, having read a while back about that technique. But the offenses appear in the sunlight ... the flashlight technique didn't work too well unless I used the wrong type flashlight, lol .. which might be, because I noticed a dark spot in the middle of the reflected light on the surface as if there was a darkness on the flashlight itself. Boy, am I learning about things. :-) And the defects did not show up that well with the flashlight technique, it was glaringly awful in the sunlight. It made me think of Blanche DuBois' statement in Streetcar Named Desire when she tried hiding her face and mentioning how sunlight shows up all her problems so she didn't like going out in the sun. :-)

From: Lee Griffith <ldgriff2001@yahoo.com>
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

Cindi,

One thing I use to see the imperfections after patching and sanding...before painting...is to shine a bright light obliquely on the wall. It really helps to show up the imperfections and you can see the transitions from patch to wall if not feathered correctly. You don't need to wait for a sunny day this way.

-Lee

On Oct 19, 2011, at 7:43 AM, Cindi Waters wrote:

It does help, thank you, Jeff. I bought a small sanding machine and tried to get it as smooth as possible. That helped, i think, but it does show a difference on the wall. I can't tell yet because it is a cloudy day. I then painted over the spaces and it's a dark, rainy day here in South Florida, so I cannot see it clearly, although so far it seems to look better. I am so thankful for the help I received on this board by the way of thoughts and encouragement. My only question now is: would another coat of paint help to make it less obvious? I think it's better, but I have to see it in the sunlight. If another coat of paint would not help then I will consider/think about applying a faux finish speckle treatment in another color to all the walls (I like uniformity to a degree, especially that I"m thinking to sell it), and NOW my question is (will store it in my mind for future reference) -- IF I apply a faux finish on top of the eggshell finish, would a flat be better, can I apply a flat on top of the eggshell? The reason I ask if a flat would be better is because I wonder, if I apply the flat and shmoosh it around with a sponge or whatever, would it tend to hide those patches of difference on the wall currently? I think so, but I like a second, third, fourth and fifth opinion. :-)

From: JEFFREY WILLIAMS <livhosaere62@yahoo.com>
To: "DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com" <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

When I trim out a home where all the trim and such will be painted I buy paint grade woods and use water based acrylic latex caulk to fill imperfections and nail holes and the like. Clean up and smoothing are done with a damp cloth.when completely dry per the directions of the pericular brands tube used it gets painted.

hope this helps jeff

From: Cindi Waters <clean_boost@yahoo.com>
To: "DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com" <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

I intend to find out what type of caulk he used to repair the walls, Jan, even though it will only bolster up my case against him. He is insisting to finish the job to my satisfaction, but right now I want to try and fix it myself. I doubt I should use a brush over the rather large patches because the rest of the walls were done with a roller. If you would do this, would you use a brush to feather after you use the rollr? or perhaps just lightly feather (extend out) with the roller? and yes, I might want to faux finish it after I patch it up with paint if the patches still shine through.

From: Jan Flood <jan.flood2@att.net>
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: [DIY] painting over caulking

Anytime you patch a spot Cindi you run the risk it will show to a certain degree. Remember, any area you paint over now, will have two coats of paint while the patch will have only one coat. You'll just have to do it, feather it out the best you can and wait a day for it to dry good to determine if it's going to take another coat. I'd definitely let it dry overnight though to see the final effect. The quality of your paint will also determine how well your repainted area covers. You don't say how big this wall is but once you get it to the point of painting, I'd paint up to and a little above eye level and down to below the normal vision point. In otherwards, don't stop it right at eye level. It's a little like painting or wallpapering in a bathroom. You don't want to make a mistake across from the commode as it will always be right at eye level, LOL.

We used SW throughout the house and the lumunious in my studio. I've done lots of touchups and I can't even tell where - however, none of those were patches nor as large as you describe. He might have used regular sheetrock mud to repair the patches and didn't let it dry thoroughly before he painted so that would definitely show. When we do a patch, like the walls in the bathroom recently, we let it dry overnight before we sanded and painted. I'd like to think he wouldn't use caulking to repair a wall patch :)

On Oct 18, 2011, at 1:38 PM, Cindi Waters wrote:

Jan Flood