Should caulk match paint colour, or be painted over?

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by tomincognito, Sep 23, 2019.

  1. tomincognito

    tomincognito New Member

    Hi all,

    Another amateur question coming up, I appreciate your patience.

    Picture the scene...
    I've got a dark grey alcove unit adjacent to a red wall. At this point I've only got standard white caulk which I feel will stand out too much.

    Should caulk match the colour of the unit, or the wall? Or should it be painted over with either the unit or the wall colour? I'm concerned that painting over would create more of a blend, with no definite line.

    Cheers again!
     
  2. Scott Green

    Scott Green Member

    As far as I know, caulk is generally painted to finish

    General purpose silicone is available in a wide variety of colours and stays a better finish as it won't crack like caulk will. Although you cannot paint silicone.
     
  3. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Agree, white caulk will look terrible, it’s either got to be wall or unit colour

    Thing is, when you caulk and then splodge it into gap with finger (not you personally) you loose that defined 90 degree angle between wall and unit - that’s what you mean (I think) about no definite line to paint to ?

    Use minimum caulk and if gaps/cracks, then force in with a scraper and again, clean off excess with scraper to maintain that 90degree junction - same as with skirtings and architraves

    Can apply a small bead of caulk and again remove excess with a damp finger and press hard

    Really, you shouldn’t be able to see caulk line once painted. Caulk is over-paintable but may ‘craze’ depending on brand of caulk and emulsion

    If this happens, paint over caulk with a stain block type paint or oil based paint and then emulsion

    Zinsser products are good here, BIN, 123, Coverstain, any of these three products will sort out caulk if crazing happens

    I’m only diy but that’s my view on question :)
     
  4. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    Have you considered a painted timber quadrant beading or even a satin finish aluminium strip/cover bead.
     
    JustPhil likes this.
  5. tomincognito

    tomincognito New Member

    I did browse grey silicon sealant but it's hard to know whether or not it would match the paint colour.

    Dave, yes that's exactly what I meant where the caulk creates a rounded join rather than a sharp 90 degree corner. There's a lot on google but almost all with white units, white walls, or both, and it's hard to know what to do when colour is involved. I appreciate all your suggestions, you may only be DIY but I value your experience, very helpful indeed!

    And I certainly will consider a quadrant trim when the time comes, that might look pretty clean. I think I'll assess the situation and revisit the ideas here.

    Thanks all for the advice!
     
  6. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Post a picture of the unit and wall, but in my mind, there’s no difference to this situation of a colour change, same where door architrave meets wall ? And we all have those !

    More than likely architrave will be white and wall may be a colour - so same situation ?

    Often get cracks between architrave and wall so caulk will deal with this better than a powdered filler as has some flexibility. But again, not a big mess of caulk that’s then been made worse by ur finger. Leaves a concave rounded mess with tramlines - if not cleaned away. Minimum caulk to do the job, clean off excess with a damp sponge

    No right or wrong way in painting schedule but I paint woodwork first and then walls. Reason is, emulsion wipes off woodwork topcoat easier than other way round. It’s just a case of maintaining that 90 degree junction between surfaces and then ‘cutting in’ with a paint brush of ur choice. I find slant cut brushes work for me for cutting in, recently tried some from Homebase as local store was closing down and some real bargains

    Certainly not top of the range brushes but worked for me - branded as Monarch
     

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