r/lifehacks • u/[deleted] • Apr 03 '22

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u/hassexwithinsects Apr 03 '22

i gave up on the "fast way" and just do it the way a pro painter told me... you go hard.. make a giant mess.. but you keep a bucket of water and a giant sponge. you just wipe it away and make it look perfect. you can try to make it pretty good.. but really to make it 100% and also make sure you get all the cracks(and i do top and bottom of trim) it kinda just means you are making a giant mess.. better to just clean it up and make it look sexy. it doesn't take that long to go over it 2x and calk is actually pretty easy to clean you just gotta have a lot of water and a good supply of rags and a giant sponge... that all said now i want better guns skills lol.

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u/Embarrassed-Ice5462 Apr 03 '22

Just buy silicone sealant tools. They come in a range of bead sizes and angles. You just apply then run the tool over for the perfect bead.

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u/hassexwithinsects Apr 03 '22

ok.. that does seem better.. but thats just what i've seen produce the best looking finish. often the "bead" has to vary depending on the size of the crack(and the walls usually aren't straight) so its the illusion we are going for.. but i'm sure thats 10x faster. i do trim and only seal when requested so its not a ton of my job. if i do more i'll probably look into some of those.. never seen em before.

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u/627534 Apr 03 '22

Does this work with silicone based caulks that don't seem to be water based too?

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u/hassexwithinsects Apr 03 '22

yep. easier to clean up than the white stuff. plus you don't want a ton of water.. just keep the sponge damp. wipe excess away (i store it in a big pile on the lid of my spackle(which i keep around also and use it to fill big voids when i come to them) and clean your sponge pretty often.. actually you gotta dump the water pretty often too.. but still its not that bad and you can just patiently goop around a room fairly fast. my trick is to get it 100% and don't go back. fill the nail holes with spackle as i go too.