Replace kitchen sink caulk

Question

I have a white porcelain kitchen sink and the caulk has turned brown, I guess over 18yrs, the age of my house. It looks awful. How to remove old and replace new caulking.  Thanks for any help due to the holidays are here.

Marion Nesbitt · Answer

Scrape it off carefully with a sharp blade and redo. More extreme - disconnect the sink, scrape, and reapply.

Jeri Estep · Answer

The black is mold. Use Clorox on a q-tip, let dry. You need to kill the mold even if you re-caulk or he mold will keep growing.

Karen608 · Answer

After you scrape off with flat screwdriver, or a nail file or something, be sure you use a white silicone caulk that is not paintable, and 10 year life, and resistant to mold and mildew. It looks like the wrong kind of caulk was used. ALSO you can buy clear if you like. Ask the hardware store for suggestions!

Stacy | BlakeHillHouse · Answer

I like using a utility knife to remove the caulk.

Lucid Designs · Answer

Personally, I would go the extreme route of completely taking out the sink, scraping both the sink and counter, bleach, reinstall, and recaulk with a silicone base. But if you're just not up for it (those porcelain sinks can be heavy, just take either a utility blase or 5-in-1 (a really hard utility knife with two different edges found in the paint section of Home Depot for under $7, that you'll use again and again) and scrape, bleach, tape around the sink, and recaulk (taking the tape off after 15 minutes or so). I would suggest white since that is the color of your sink. Clear would show any dirt left behind.

Doris · Answer

Yes there is rust staining also, and I would re comes finding one of the little felt pen sized containers of appliance touch up paint and covering those exposed metal areas that have started to rust before applying the new caulk ....and I use a utility knife for removal of caulk.

Susan Mccarthy · Answer

Lowes and Home Depot sell a multi tool that will remove this very easily but as explained above you will need to carefully clean area with bleach or other mold killing product.

Grouchy · Answer

Help answer this question...Am not sure that is chip damage on the surface as shown in the photo. It looks to me like just a heavy layer of mold. That would be a matter of just following the above suggestions. Be careful about using a sharp pointed tool when removing the calking though--due to potential for scratching the surfaces!

Liliana Wells · Answer

Also, ask Jeff at http://www.homerepairtutor.com/. He may have a video showing you how to do it. Good suggestions above.

Dianna Blumricl · Answer

You can buy a small tool that will help you remove this. It vey easy. I done this several times over the years. If you would use bleach in the beginning it will usually keep the call white.

Comet · Answer

To get right down to the counter get a box of SINGLE EDGE RAZOR BLADES--these have a small edging on the opposite side and you can get into very thin flat areas and CLEAN with it. Find them in the wallpaper section. They may also sell hendles for these or you can just hold them. A BLEACH PEN can get to the small spots if you are worried about splashing regular liquid bleach around. And--some of this might just be stains and not mold. Do not panic over 'mold' ---this is NOT the same stuff on old wet walls. It is just the stuff that grows where there are dark wet spaces. You might want to lift the sink OUT--there might be clips underneath--and clean ALL of the surface inc UNDER the counter and then put a bead of caulk UNDER the edge of the sink too; prevents water getting under the edge. If the clips break and you can't match these--happened here-- you can use the 'L' shaped HOOKS for hanging keys etc as a holder.

Fran Bacak · Answer

I would like to thank y'all for all the good advice. I plan on getting to this project on Monday morning. Again, thanks.

Dee Lowe · Answer

Also thanks for asking the question as I have the same situation, now i know what to do :)

Barbara C · Answer

To prevent this in the future,always clean around the edges of the sink after every use,make sure to dry it well, as this moisture is what's causing the mold.

Rose · Answer

An old toothbrush will work great when trying to clean this area. I would give it a good cleaning first, maybe rechalking won't be nessesary. I had to recaulk once. Really hard too get in between the faucet/sink/wall. Hope you let us know what you did, or post another pic.Good luck

Michelle Leslie · Answer

Hi Fran, start with a clean surface, so removing the existing caulk is very important. Scrape it out with a screwdriver or a putty knife. (If you run into stubborn caulk that you can't get loose, use a utility blade to score the top and bottom.) After all the old caulk is removed, re-caulk it with quality caulk. Make sure you use 100% silicone caulk. It’s more flexible and will expand and contract. Let it dry. Then add decorative trim. Take your measurements with you to buy the trim. Home Depot will cut the trim for free if you buy it there. You can also add a backsplash that would cover the gap, but you’ll still need to caulk. Good luck.

Replace kitchen sink caulk

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Replace kitchen sink caulk

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