Painting Unpaintable Caulk

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Hiya Folks, Well I did a boneheaded move last night. I'm in the process of painting a sheetrocked room and in one of the inside corners, there was a crack along the seam. I grabbed the wrong tube of caulk and now have a nice bright white line running down the corner where the paint won't stick. I grabbed the Silicone caulk that isn't paintable. How do I fix this? I won't be able to remove the caulk so I'll need to go over it with something in hopes that I can paint it afterwards. I was thinking of just going over it with a paintable version but I'm also considering hitting it with a bit of shellac and then painting. Any recommendations between these two options or any others I'm not aware of? Thanks much! jlc

[Doug Kanter]

Why can't you remove it?

[Mys Terry]

NOTHING sticks to silicone caulk. You will have to find a way to remove all traces of it.

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Uh oh. I don't think I can remove it without sanding it all out. Then I'm left with no texture on the wall and I'm no texturing expert so am concerned about doing this. I won't be able to get the stuff tucked all the way into the corner unless I want to cut it out and then I'm left with a gap. Hmmm.....a latex caulk won't stick to it eh? Cheers, cc

[Doug Kanter]

Time out! You said it was a sheetrocked wall. When you say "textured", are you referring to the normal texture of the sheetrock, or has some kind of textured surface been applied on top of it?

And, as for sanding the silicone caulk, not very likely. You'll want to get behind it with a razor blade, very slowly, and lift it off as best you can.

[Mys Terry]

You can't really "sand it out". You have to cut it out with a razor knife. I'll repeat this again so there is no room for abiguity: NOTHING will stick to silicone. It either has to be removed, or hang a quilt or something over it to hide it.

How about some nice wood trim?

[les]

I know this sounds awful and tedious, but I think the only way to solve this is as someone said "remove it all". I guess I would use a box cutter blade and razor it out on the side of losing even some plaster edge. Remember, don't let remaining silicone destroy your best effort to fix this now, so be thorough. And if you are comfortable with mud, just replaster the corner seam. It may require 3 coats, so be it. Let it dry completely. Then sand it using a plaster sanding block. They work great and make a nice finish if you stick with a 120 grit. Just be warned, expect lots of fine dust.

It's unfortunate, but you painted yourself into a corner, so to speak.

[Doug Kanter]

Another tip: I had to re-plaster a corner once. I used a credit card to shape the wet plaster. Worked nicely, and I see no reason it wouldn't also work with drywall mud.

[Oren]

I would razor blade score a line around what silly-caulk is needing to be removed and peel it off. Trying to avoid as much damage to the dry wall as possible. Keep the damage as small as you can for easy repair.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Norminn]

You might end up with a slightly "rounder" corner, but you likely can cover the silicone with a thin coat of paintable caulk - so that the paintable bridges the silicone and hangs onto the old surface. There certainly would be no stress that pulls the new caulk away from the wall.

[buffalobill]

play with some original formula white killz primer or bin primer it sticks to glass. and let us know. but you would get a better job with a sharp utility knife and metal inside corner and the usual mud work if you are drywalling anyway.

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

It's a sheetrock wall with texture on it. Due to the texture, it was nearly impossible with a razor blade. I did in fact use my sander on very slow speed with a very fine grit and it lifted it right out. Cheers, cc

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

The silicone stuck to the wall pretty good so I guess something sticks to it :)

Anyway, I sanded and it came out fine. Went slow with a very fine grit and it just sort of peeled it off the wall. I'll know now to check which tube of caulk I'm grabbing from the dark garage next time! Cheers, cc

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I was able to get it all off without damaging the texture of the wall fortunately. I'm no plasterer and would not have been able to duplicate the texture that's on the walls but I appreciate the info. One of these days I really need to learn that skill. Cheers, cc

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

So I ended up just pulling the caulk out. Actually, I used a sander on slow speed with a very fine grit. I took it easy enough that I saved the texture on the wall so no mud work was needed. I did use a pick in a few spots to get some of the caulk out. I have learned my lesson: Watch which tube of caulk you grab in the garage when in a hurry you idiot!

Cheers, cc

[Mys Terry]

Silicone is a poor adhesive. When it is liquid, it can key into cracks or texture, but it doesn't really bond that well. Once cured, it presents a surface that nothing will stick to.

[Mys Terry]

Glad it all worked out okay.

[m Ransley]

I was in the same boat I used a paintable Acrilic Latex- Silicone over the silicone, so far its holding. Since it is inside it should work for you, Mine is holding outside on new Anderson windows.