caulk removal

[ken]

we need to add new caulk to our shower floor, but the old caulk must be removed first

What is the best way to do this?

thanks

Ken

[wiz561]

I am in the same boat as you are. I have silicon caulk along the bathtub and would like to remove it. I haven't started this task yet, but some things that I saw that would help are a caulk removal tool and 3M makes some caulk remover.

The caulk removal tool looks kind of like a small plastic scraper, but the scraping part is in the shape of a 'v'. The caulk remover from 3M can be bought at Menards. Here's a link for it...

I haven't done anything yet, but it would be interesting to hear other people's thoughts.

[tmurf.1]

People who caulk a lot for a living use a razor blade scraper it has a handle about 1 foot long and holds 3 or 4 inch blades. It kind of looks like a wallpaper scraper. Electric caulk removers can be bought but they are high priced and not really right for a bathroom job. Be careful with any chemicals.

[Joe]

You may be able to take advantage of the ability of methylene chloride (StripEez or whatever) paint removers to swell and soften cured silicones. If your substrate is plastic, however, that may not be possible. Recaulking silicones with silicones works well because the chemical bond is very good. In those cases, mechanical removal is the best. HTH

Joe

[charlie]

You may be able to take advantage of the ability of methylene chloride (StripEez or whatever) paint removers to swell and soften cured silicones. If your substrate is plastic, however, that may not be possible. Recaulking silicones with silicones works well because the chemical bond is very good. In those cases, mechanical removal is the best. HTH

Joe

[HeyBub]

First look here at how a Fein Multimaster can be used to remove caulk:

While you're there, you might prowl around the site for other useful things the tool can do.

Now flip over to the Harbor Freight site and have a whiff of their competitive tool:

Finally, visit the Black Friday scan of Harbor Freight's one-day special of $39.95

[Phisherman]

There is a caulk saw made specifically for this (the toothed edge is curved). You could use a Dremmel tool, but there will be a lot more clean-up dust.

[Red Green]

ken wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Assuming it is caulk hopefully it's only be around the perimeter of the floor at most. Typically everything is grout but caulk at wall/floor junctions is good since that's a prime candidate for leaks. If there is caulk in the "field" of the floor I'd say this was a quick hack patch job.

When I have redone the perimeter recaulk, razor blades, knives, scrapers and what ever else seems to do the job is what I use. Get it all out. Before recaulking it HAS to be clean and dry for the new caulk to adhere and last. For that, a rotory tool such as a Dremel or a Harbor Freight cheapo. If you're seeing dust then that's a good thing in my opinion. Means the caulk is gone and you're hitting tile. Vacuum it out. Clean it as caulk tube recommends (ie may say isopropyl alcohol).

Recently redid one and tried LATICRETE® Premium Acrylic Caulk I got at Blue Borg. Tried it because it came in a color I wanted. And like grout, it actually comes in a sanded versions. Not something you find in the generic silicones.

Like six bucks for a tube but silicone isn't much less than that. Seems to adhere and dry extremely well. Water cleanup is what surprised me. Test of time will tell.

[Ron]

What do you mean by "shower floor"?

If it's tile, a razor knife, single edge razor blades, and then a final clean up with rubbing alcohol.

[Ron]

Are you talking about these?

If so, they are for cutting out the bottom of windshields on certian cars.

[Joe]

Not so. Silicones will have no trouble bonding to clean old silicones,and the new to old bond of clean material is indeed chemical and equal to virgin material. I suggest that you actually do this yourself. Try it inexpensively by using small tubes of sealant commonly used for automotive gaskets. There has been some grumbling about the performance of Silicone II, so perhaps this is related to problems you may have experienced. People using expensive silicone mold making compounds usually save $$ by recycling chunks of material removed from the molds into fresh mixed batches for new molds. A slice of the cured resultant compound shows no delineation at all between old and new. HTH

Joe