Maintaining the Caulk Around Your Plumbing Fixtures

February 12th, 2017

Maintaining the Caulk Around Your Plumbing Fixtures

One of the easiest ways to maintain the cleanliness and prevent water damage in your home is to ensure the caulk around your plumbing fixtures is in good working order.

The caulk around your plumbing fixtures keeps water from seeping in around the joints and crevices of those fixtures. If the caulk goes bad, mold can form around your fixtures and in the walls of your home. This leaves you with an even bigger problem on your hands and you will need to call a Plumber in Salt Lake City to help you out of that jam.

Because bathrooms get condensation and steam from showers, your caulking is a perfect environment for mold to grow. While this mold isn’t as troubling as mold inside your walls, it is still an eye sore and something that needs to be taken care of. It is easy to stay on top of caulk maintenance such as removing mold from caulk or replacing the caulking altogether. It is probably easier to just clean the caulking, but sometimes it won’t just be dirty.

After some amount of time the caulk will start to dry out and crack and then you will most certainly have to replace it instead of cleaning it off. If you allow the caulk to stay dirty, you will end up with damage where the water has leaked into the spots where the caulk has gone bad.

The first thing you need to do to replace your old caulk is to clean the caulk off. You can get a bucket of very hot water and wash down all the old caulking first. This will loosen up any debris that is on and make it easier to use a utility knife or a putty knife to remove the old caulking. You don’t want any caulking left over when you are done. The cleaner the surface, the better the new caulk will stay on.

You don’t want to do this job in fashion that will lead to shoddy results. This means making sure you have all the old caulk cleaned off from the joints and crevices of your plumbing fixtures. You may want to use bleach or some other household cleaner if you have any mildew or mold showing.

If water has gotten behind the joint and into the cracks and crevices, you will need to allow this to dry before you apply your new caulk. If you still have a mold issue or issues behind the caulking, you may need to call one of our Plumbers in Salt Lake City to come in and take care of your plumbing needs.

When a job is too big for you to do on your own, the right professional can have your home looking like brand new. Our Plumbers in Salt Lake City Utah can help you quickly and affordably. If you have gotten all the old caulk out and you feel comfortable moving forward, the next step is to apply your new caulk.

The nozzle of the caulk tube should be cut at an angle and it should be slightly larger than the size of the joint you are applying the caulk to. You might also try using mildew or mold resistant caulk if you are having a big problem. Make sure you have a sponge so you can lightly go over the joint to smooth out the caulk and make it look professional. Do not allow the caulk to dry in big globs or messily all over your plumbing fixtures. Also keep the caulk from getting wet for several hours so that it may cure properly and function in the manner it was intended for.

Most of the plumbing fixtures in your home should be caulked. These include your sinks, toilets and faucets. If you don’t take the time to caulk your fixtures correctly, you can wind up with much larger problems on your hand. If you only have mildew on your caulk joints but the caulk is still very functional, you can just clean the mildew off of the joints instead of cutting it out and replacing it.

To remove the mildew, use very hot water and some kind of bleaching agent to clean the caulk joint. You want t make sure that the cleaning agent will not eat through your fixture or your caulk, so it might be wise to try a small inconspicuous place first so you know what you are working with.

If mold and mildew is a big problem, there might be a few solutions. Our Plumbers in Salt Lake City can go over these solutions with you. One might be to run an exhaust fan in your bathroom to keep under control the warm and damp conditions that mold loves. Remember that if the problem does continue, you might need a Plumber in Salt Lake City Utah to help out. The mold might be growing behind the joint and you might not be addressing this problem at all.

Maintaining the Caulk Around Your Plumbing Fixtures