Pretty disgusting.
Yuck!
Okay, moldy or mildewed shower sealant or silicone caulk is disgusting, right?
So in this video I’m going to show you how to remove and replace moldy shower caulk.
We’re going to do it quickly, easily.
You’re going to learn about some awesome tools that cut down on the dust or particulates
that flies up into the air, especially if somebody—like in my case—sealed over grout
with silicone sealant.
It can be a real nightmare.
And in the end, I’ve got a bonus surprise for you that you don’t want to miss out
on.
It’s pretty fantastic.
Let’s dive into the video right now.
Quick story before we get started.
And this is kind of a learn-from-my-mistake story.
A few years ago, I had to remove grout from our tile shower floor.
I used an oscillating multi-tool.
It was working great until 5 minutes later, boom!
Totally went caput.
So I had to run to the store, buy another oscillating multi-tool, and finish the job.
Now as a consequence—and I wish I had pictures of this—because of all the dust that was
flying through the air, a few things happened.
Number one, our bathroom fan also went caput.
So it died because it was taking all the dust out of the bathroom—or some of the dust.
Actually like 10% of the dust.
That left a fine residue of dust all over the bathroom, which was terrible for my wife’s
asthma and allergies.
So learning lesson: try to avoid that whenever you’re removing grout.
So how can you do that?
Today I’m going to show you how to use the Fein MultiMaster 350Q with a dust extractor
kit attached to it.
The first thing you want to do is wipe off the tub, make sure it’s dry.
You also want to block the drain in one way, shape, or form.
You don’t want any of the old caulk or grout going down into the drain.
You can also lay a towel over it.
That’s pretty easy to do.
This is something I learned from a prior project.
To protect the tub, you want to put down some painter’s tape.
You actually want to put down two layers.
Overlap the second one about halfway onto the first layer.
The next layer of tape is duct tape.
This protects your tub from being damaged by the oscillating multi-tool.
Just know that when you put the duct tape down, if you try to pull up on it, it will
pull the painter’s tape off the tub.
We are going to be using a grout removal attachment with the Fein 350Q.
The nice thing about the dust extractor for the 350Q is that it hooks up to the Turbo
2 hose and will suck out, hopefully, all of the grout and all of the sealant that is around
this tub.
Now Fein sent me the Turbo 2, and this is the first time I’m using it.
So I’m actually reading through the directions as I go.
But what I’m finding is there are several really cool things about it.
So first and foremost, it has two different filters.
There’s a fleece filter here, and then there’s a flat filter right here.
So this is HEPA certified.
The Turbo 2 is Fein’s Shop-Vac, and it comes with a ton of different attachments, and you
can use it for both wet and dry conditions.
The other really cool thing about this is there’s an integrated socket outlet for
your power tools.
So you can plug your power tool right into this.
So why is that cool?
If you place the setting on the power tool setting, it’ll briefly turn on.
But then the really awesome thing about that is you can control the power of the power
tool and the Turbo 2 at the exact same time.
Watch.
So one thing I wanted to tell you.
When you turn off your power tool this will keep running for about 15 seconds, then it’ll
shut off.
There’s an air volume regulator right on the hose that attaches to the dust extractor.
You can adjust the air volume by turning this either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
If you turn it counter-clockwise, you increase the airflow extraction.
The Turbo 2 reminds me of a droid that we all know and love.
R2!
Okay, so I want to give you a few pointers here.
If you’re just removing grout, you only need to remove about 1/8” to 3/16”.
If you’re removing grout and sealant—so in this case, caulk—what you want to do
is remove all of it down right here.
The point is this: the reason why you want to remove most of the sealant is you want
to make room for the new silicone sealant to go in.
So let show you how we’re going to do this.
When this vibrates, the last thing you want to do is ruin your tub.
And that’s what this tape is here to help prevent.
Hopefully if you see scarring of the tape, you won’t go through the tape.
You actually put in multiple layers of duct tape if you’re concerned about it.
There’s a
lot of grout in there.
So I’m going to have to just make sure I don’t nick the tub or nick the tile because
the MultiMaster is pretty, pretty powerful.
But as you can see, there’s not a lot of dust around here.
It could be way, way worse.
So in this case, some of the old grout was coming loose pretty easily.
So I can use a 5-in-1 painter’s tool to remove the rest of it if it’s coming out
nice and easily.
There’s no reason to over-power this job.
You can do the exact same thing if you’ve got silicone sealant in this crack.
If you have some excess sealant on your tiles, you can use a razor scraper to scrape it off.
This is a great little tool for that last part of the removal process.
I wanted to show you how that when you pull back the tape here, you shouldn’t have any
scarring of the tub.
And that is the beauty of the oscillating multi-tool.
But before you pull the tape, you definitely want to use your Shop-Vac to pull the dust
off of it.
Okay, I’m wearing a black shirt on purpose.
I wanted to show you that once I got done removing this grout and silicone sealant,
I don’t look like a terrible mess, which is good because I’m going to the movies,
right?
So check it out.
Not too much dust on the black shirt here.
This is my favorite silicone sealant to use in bathtubs.
It’s GE Supreme 100% Silicone.
It’s mold-free and has a lifetime guarantee.
Pretty sweet.
One of my biggest tips is to fill the tub with water before you seal between the tile—or
whatever surround you have—and the tub.
Okay, so as luck would have it, the pop-up stopper has a bad gasket on it.
So I used a piece of Press’n Seal around it, and this will have to do for now.
I like to cut my tube at an angle and a really small hole.
Okay, we’re going to start here at the bottom and work our way through the top of the tub.
Now everybody’s going to have their own technique, and let me know what you think
in the comments.
But I like starting in the corner here and working my way back out toward the edge of
the tub.
So to get a smooth bead, you can dip your finger in the water and then just run it along
the edge here like so.
This is a pretty clean bead of silicone right here.
But if there were any excess on the tub, I can simply dip my finger in the water and
wipe off any of the excess with that wet finger.
Once your silicone has set up, you can remove all the water in the tub so that it compresses
the silicone.
Okay, so that is how you remove and replace moldy shower caulk.
So this project can be a nightmare if you don’t have the right tools.
That’s why the Fein MultiMaster 350Q and the Fein Turbo 2 made this project way easier
for me.
Totally cut down on the dust.
There’s not any dust in the rest of this bathroom.
It was all contained to just where I was working.
And all of it was sucked through the dust extractor kit in the MultiMaster through to
the Turbo 2.
So I really recommend the Turbo 2 if you’re a woodworker or you’re somebody like me
who does a lot of DIY projects either at your own home or other people’s homes.
If you want to cut down on the dust, the Turbo 2 is the way to go.
Not only can it attach to the MultiMaster, but you can attach it to other power tools
as well.
So if you’re in the market for a Shop-Vac, I can’t recommend the Turbo 2 enough.
It’s fantastic.
So here’s the deal.
As a surprise for watching the video until the end, I wanted to tell you that we’re
giving away a Fein MultiMaster 350Q.
So let me know down in the comments what you think about these tools.
If you have any tips on how to apply sealant in the bathroom, if you have another tip besides
the ones that I gave to you, and you feel that yours is better, leave them in the comments
as well.
I really, really want to hear from you.
So you can leave your comment here on YouTube or back on over at HomeRepairTutor.com, and
that’s how you enter into the random giveaway for the MultiMaster, okay?
So again, thanks for watching the video.
Leave your comments below.
I’ll see you next week, especially if you subscribe to my YouTube channel because we
come out with a new video every single week.
So don’t miss out on that.
Thanks again.
Take care, and I’ll talk to you soon.