Painting predicament.

[Chris]

I'm prepping a room for painting- a guy showed me a trick of using paintabl e/sand able silicone caulk over minor hairline cracks and I have had luck i t in the past.. However this time, I used the non paintable silicone and di dn't realize it- I'm in a panic mode now- over the hair line cracks that I caulked, I hit it with easy sand 20. It's drying now and it seems to be wo rking- I hope .. any thoughts of my idiotic predicament? And I was happy w ith the big holes that I patched up.!

[Norminn]

Paintable caulk is good for corners because they move more and fine cracks won't reopen. As for your problem, I'd email the mfg. of your caulk with specific product info and ask them how to remove or cover it. I would not want to sand too deeply or the paper covering of drywall will abrade and roll up....messy to try to correct.

If a good primer was applied so that it completely covered the caulk, it would probably adhere fine, as long as it goes beyond the edges of the silicone. Read the label next time ;o)

[Chris]

Would Zinnser's BIN be good to use?

[Chris]

Would Zinnser's BIN be ok?

[Mayayana]

I would scrape off the silicone with a wallpaper scraper, then dig in a little if necessary. The EZSand is OK, but it won't stop a crack unless you use mesh tape with it.

I use Phenoseal for nearly everything. Siliconized latex caulk is OK, but I don't find it to be as strong. I don't use silicone for much of anything. It's hard to clean up, tends to turn brown with age, resists paint and attracts mildew more than other caulks. I think the idea of using silicone for sealing bathtubs, windows, etc dates back to a time when there wasn't a good alternative.

I'll sometimes use Phenoseal for small wall cracks on a budget job, but it needs to be sponged down to avoid showing through as a bead, and it can't be depended on to last. Mesh tape and compound is the only thing I know that *really* fixes wall cracks.