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Caulk and Paint Door Jamb and Baseboards

7:59
19:36
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At 7:59 in

PERFECT lines with caulking and tape.

What happens here

First, wear gloves to protect your hands. Apply a small, thin bead of white caulk along the top edge of the baseboard where it meets the wall, and along the door jamb where it meets the wall. Use a caulking gun for even application. Do not apply too much caulk, as excess will need to be wiped off. Immediately after applying the caulk bead, wipe off the excess using your gloved finger or a damp rag, creating a smooth transition from the baseboard or door jamb to the tape. This ensures that the caulk does not create a 'dam' that would be difficult to remove later. Then, use a paint brush to gently paint over the caulked line, allowing the caulk to fully seal the tape. When painting, avoid pushing too hard to prevent forcing caulk underneath the tape. For best results, brush in short sections. Finally, immediately after painting, slowly pull the painter's tape off at a steady, even speed while the paint and caulk are still wet. If you pull too fast or wait until it's dry, the paint or caulk can flick off or create an uneven line.

Goal: Achieve a crisp, straight line on door jambs and baseboards.

Tools and materials

  • Caulking Gun — Applying caulk evenly
  • Gloves Kirkland — Protecting hands and wiping excess caulk
  • Paint Brush — Applying paint over the caulk
  • Painter's Tape 3M 2020 tape — Masking off the area to be painted
  • White Paintable Caulk — Sealing the edge of the baseboard and door jamb
  • Paint — Painting over the caulked and taped line

What they say

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let's go. So, here's the first situation. I've got a door jam right here and some baseboards. And I'm going to just this right here. And I'm just going to put a little small bead cuz the bead of cocking itself, you're really just wiping it all off. So, you're not trying to put a whole lot of cocking on. The more caulking you put on on, the more you're gonna have to wipe off. So, I'm just gonna put a little tiny bead on this cocking or on this tape right here. And I don't want to get too far ahead of myself cuz the cocking dries pretty fast. So, I'm going to do, you know, short runs, short sections. I got a little bead of cocking there. Now, I'm just going to begin wiping it off. And one of the nice things about us putting this 9-in paper down, I can just wipe the excess cocking on the paper right here. here. So, I'm just going to keep, you know, wiping it clean here. So, I don't want a whole lot of cocking built up on there. I'm trying to wipe the majority of it off cuz if when you peel your tape, if you have a lot of cocking on there, it's going to create what we call a big dam and it's going to have this nice big ridge on there. That doesn't look so good. And then I'm going to after I put the cocking on, I don't want to wait a whole long time because the cocking does dry fairly fast. Now I'm going to paint over the top of the cocking. And I don't want to push too hard cuz if I push really hard, I'm forcing the cocking underneath the tape. I just want to just, you know, brush this paint on there gently. And I like to go back over where I brushed so the stippling will match the stippling that was rolled on the wall. So, I'm just going to continue working up this door door jam. And then once I get done, I'm going to just pull this section of tape off. And we do get people asking us, you know, all the time, do we pull it when it's wet or dry? You don't want the cocking to dry. And you don't want the paint to dry. You want to pull it off flat. If you wait till it dries, either one of them dry, it skims over. What's going to happen is the dried paint or the dried cocking, it's going to bridge the gap between the tape and the wall, and you're going to pull it and it's probably going to peel the tape off the wall. So now I'm going to begin just peeling my tape off. And if you go too fast, you know, if uh I want to just go a nice, you know, even steady speed. If you go too fast, it's going to flick paint off and what we call kind of the it look like spiders and…

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