I will be doing much caulking on the interior of a house with horse-hair plaster. Nearly all of the joints have cracked (i.e between moldings and the plaster). Do you have any tips for doing the cauking??? I will be priming and painting with latex.
What kind of caulk should I use? How do I smooth out the joints after caulking? Should the finished bead be pushed far into the joint or let "radiused? Do you use a finger or a rag to smooth?
Acrylic works. Better is a siliconized one, just make sure it is paintable. _________________
Damp finger or cloth __________________
Depends. If wall and moldings are to be painted different colors a sharp demarcation would be easier to cut in or mask. Otherwise, a radiused one is easier to do. In either case, you want some caulk *in* the joint. Keep in mind that the caulk will shrink when dry.
-- dadiOH _____________________________
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Real paint suppliers sell caulking formulated for this. Typically called a _painter's caulk_. A siliconized acrylic latex caulk which cleans up with soap & water. Depending which one you get, it may also be formulated with a mildewcide. This caulking is paintable.
A wet finger is commonly used to tool caulking. Keep a small bowl/cup of fresh water handy to wet your finger, also a rag to wipe off excess from your finger after tooling. Not too much water, the caulking will shrink more with excessive water. You do want to push the caulking in. With a little practice, you will have a caulking job that looks pro.
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