How to apply Silicone, Caulking or Sealant and get perfect edges

Hello everyone, this is CLS all in one and today I'm going to show you how to get your caulking, silicone, or sealant looking just like this. If you're a beginner doing silicone or caulking can be extremely messy and getting it to look nice can be a real challenge and more than likely the first time you try this you're gonna end up making a big mess and end up with a product that doesn't look very nice. So I'm going to show you some tips and tricks today to make this go a lot easier. So to start off with whatever you're going to be using whether it's caulking or silicone you want to make sure your surfaces are nice and clean and free of any grease because we want to make sure our silicone or caulking gets a good adhesion. And you also want to make sure your surface is nice and dry before you get started because that can also affect your adhesion. Once the surface is ready we're gonna go ahead and mask off the areas that need silicone or caulked with a high-grade masking tape and what I'm using today is a painter's masking tape made by Scotch. When you're masking off an area you don't want to go any wider than it needs to be. Since I'm working on a corner I'm gonna measure 3 16ths from the corner onto the counter and 3 16ths up onto the wall. In certain areas you might have to use a wider bead but for the most part you want to try to make it as small as possible but still seal the area that you're working on. And when I'm applying masking tape I like to go about 10 inches at a time and keep readjusting so I can keep my line nice and straight. Most of the surfaces in your house are not going to be completely level or plumb so if you try to apply masking tape and too far stretch you're probably gonna end up with a low spot or a high spot. That's why I go about 10 inches at a time. And currently what I'm working on right now is a grout line that needs sealed. If you look closely it does have some hairline cracks and that's because it's at a corner and a grout does not stretch for easy. That's why we need to go ahead and seal this and what I'm gonna use today to seal it is silicone. And this is made by Gorilla and it's also paintable so this is very handy to use in multiple different areas. And when you're cutting the tip on that silicone I like to cut it at about a 45 degree angle with about an eighth inch opening. If you cut that tip too big you're probably just gonna end up wasting a lot of product and make a big mess. Now it's time to lay my bead and when I'm applying this I like to make it about a quarter inch wide by eighth inch high and make sure that I don't leave any voids when I'm applying the sealant. So on this step just take your time and go nice and steady and stay slow. Occasionally you might have an air bubble that pops out of the tube which might create a void in your bead. And if this happens just stop and regroup and start your bead again. And when you're applying that sealant you should have your caulking gun at about a 30 degree angle with a cut on that tip matching the contour of wherever you're applying it to. After applying that bead it's time to go ahead and wipe off the excess silicone or caulking. So you want to make sure you have a rag or paper towel handy because we're gonna be making a little bit of a mess. So now I'm gonna use my finger and press into the edge at about a 30 degree angle matching the contour of the corner and continue doing this until I reach the end of the bead. And now I'm gonna go the opposite direction that way I make sure I fill any voids that might have been left by going just one direction. By going two different directions you can make sure you fill every void and get the best seal possible. Also, I'd like to mention especially if you're a beginner that you should probably not do an area that's longer than 10 feet because we want to make sure that that silicone or caulking does not dry before we have a chance to pull the tape. So as soon as you're done filling the voids and removing the excess caulking or silicone it's time to go ahead and remove the tape. Just make sure as you're pulling the tape that you don't pull the tape into your sealant because you don't want to mess up your nice straight line. So just make sure you pull away from the sealant and you should end up with a nice straight line. Also, keep in mind that that tape is gonna have some excess sealant that's still on it so that could make a mess. So you want to be really careful as you're pulling that away and make sure not to touch your walls or anything else and just keep a rag handy. And again, I want to remind you this only works well while that sealant is still fresh. If you wait too long and let that sealant dry or cure you're gonna have a hard time removing the tape and you'll probably end up making a big mess. So that's why I mentioned that you should probably only do 10 foot areas at a time that way you don't run into this issue. Now this method works really well for areas where your silicone or your sealant or caulking or whatever you're using is going to be visible like mine is right here. Now it doesn't make as much sense in an area where it's going to be painted or it's not as visible but as you can see right here, this area is nice and visible. So it's very crucial that I get a nice straight line so I get a good finished product. And as you can see here, it's turning out great and I have a nice straight line. Now I've been doing this type of stuff for years and I can do this without using tape, but I can't get a perfect line. So if you want some nice straight lines, this is the method you're gonna have to use or more than likely you'll end up with imperfections. So after applying that sealant and removing the tape, you want to be careful not to come in contact with that sealant until it cures and it usually takes about 24 hours before you can work around it. And I'm getting pretty close to being done in the area I'm working on right now. Let me go ahead and show you some of the other stuff I've been working on. Here's the window right here and see how I get a nice straight line. That's actually silicone just like on the bottom and I still have an area up here on the top. I haven't finished yet, but when I get done here it's gonna look just like it does around the window with a nice straight line. And in both of these areas I just had to mask on one side where that straight line is located. Well, hopefully this helped you out. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask and leave a comment down below and if you like this video please click that like button and have yourself a great day, and I'll see you next time.