# Caulk At Ceiling/Wall Joints?



## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

I have never heard of anyone doing that, never seen it, nor would I expect that from anyone. I have been a painting contractor and owner of my own painting company for a long time doing everything from a one day job to a new project taking up to a year, I been around a lot of professional painting contractors, working directly or indirectly with them, been around architects and engineers and like I said I have never heard of that. It is very unprofessional.


----------



## Kevin M. (Nov 26, 2009)

I have done it twice in my career. Both times were in a real old house with wavy plaster walls and trenched trim intersects. Each time the trim was white and the walls were dark. The caulk was a fill extension of the trim. I did it with an icing bag. It turned out well but was a real hassle.

Looks like on your job they just slam dunked some caulk and fingered it. As far as the statement, "it is done all the time." :whistling2:

Kevin


----------



## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

Any professional painter should be able to cut a pretty straight line on a ceiling, even using almost any size brush. If a wall is wavy, then the cut gets compromised to where it will still look pretty straight. I have met tons of professional painters and have worked on all phases of painting and have never seen that done in order to make a cut look straight. Over time the caulk will start to sag and fall down, if one of my painters ever did that I would probably fire them instantly. If you are caulking some sort of trim on the ceiling ie. Crown molding that's one thing.


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

Thanks a lot for the confirmations. My wife was grilling me for getting impatient and taping/painting it myself after the contractor left the house!

The walls in my house aren't exactly perfectly constructed (cheap construction from 78/79), but a clean line is imperative for me, whether the walls are wavy or not! :furious:


----------



## Kevin M. (Nov 26, 2009)

MJG196 said:


> Thanks a lot for the confirmations.
> 
> 
> > * My wife was grilling me *
> ...


I believe someone owes you an apology! :thumbup: :laughing:

Kevin


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

"common practice." :laughing:

As already stated this is a farce,I have never seen anything like that. That guy( supposid contractor) should never have been paid.


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

chrisn said:


> "common practice." :laughing:
> 
> As already stated this is a farce,I have never seen anything like that. That guy( supposid contractor) should never have been paid.


Well, I only paid half so far. They dont get anything else until the job is complete. I see you are in Hagerstown. Howdy neighbor!


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

Here is another example for you guys to laugh at:










I have a question for you pros. I want to tell this guy that the caulk is unacceptable and I want his crew to use tape. Is he obligated to do it MY way or the way his crew knows how? Our contract does not say anything about this type of situation.


----------



## Kevin M. (Nov 26, 2009)

Hopefully, that is not 100% silicone caulk. 
KM


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

Kevin M. said:


> Hopefully, that is not 100% silicone caulk.
> KM


I asked him about that, and he didn't know. :furious: Yes, he didn't know what materials his crew was using. As it is, the areas I have done myself seem to hold the paint and look really good.


----------



## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

MJG196 said:


> Well, I only paid half so far. They dont get anything else until the job is complete. I see you are in Hagerstown. Howdy neighbor!


Nothing for nothing, but if you owe him half of the contracted price I hope that you did not give him half down, that would be a warning sign that the contractors not professional if he's taking half down. Most contractors on small jobs only take a small percent down and the rest upon completion.


----------



## wherm5150 (Jan 29, 2010)

Obligated? No. But if he's a good businessman he'll do whatever it takes to make his customers happy. If you're not happy with his work, he should have asked what he could do to make it right, not try to justify their methods. You have every right to ask him to correct their work.


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

housepaintingny said:


> Nothing for nothing, but if you owe him half of the contracted price I hope that you did not give him half down, that would be a warning sign that the contractors not professional if he's taking half down. Most contractors on small jobs only take a small percent down and the rest upon completion.


Well, lesson learned there. It was in the neighborhood of other estimates, so I don't feel burned on cost as long as the job is eventually completed to my own specs. That means NO  CAULK!


----------



## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

*I ALWAYS caulk my inside corners and ceiling-lines...*

Although THIS particular painters' caulk-lines were REALLY crappy (My Samoyed puppy could've done better than that...!)

Many GOOD painters up here do it too. It really dresses-up the vertical corners, since "square" corners are rare...
I don't use much....just enough to give the corner a slight "rounding". This makes a cut-in easier IMO. I use good-ol' ACE Painter's-caulk.
I often suggest to our stores' clients to consider caulking their inside-corners, as well as the obvious caulking around wood trims, etc.
Some have come back and thanked us for the suggestion..."No one else has ever suggested that" one guy said!

It works!

Faron


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

I will also chalk some ceiling lines that are SLIGHTLY cracked with paintable chalk. Hit it first with the ceiling paint then cut in with the wall paint, no tape should be needed. You do not put the chalking on AFTER the paint, unbelievable.Hope and hope it is not silicon


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Faron79 said:


> Although THIS particular painters' caulk-lines were REALLY crappy (My Samoyed puppy could've done better than that...!)
> 
> Many GOOD painters up here do it too. It really dresses-up the vertical corners, since "square" corners are rare...
> I don't use much....just enough to give the corner a slight "rounding". This makes a cut-in easier IMO. I use good-ol' ACE Painter's-caulk.
> ...


Yeah, I have been known to caulk to even out things and provide better lines and wall to ceiling transitions, to repair plaster cracks in the same region, or as others have suggested to give an airtight look to gaps between trim and walls and ceilings. But I use paintable caulk blended so you would never know it was there and then paint over it. I have never caulked after all is done and left something looking as bad as shown in these pictures. Frankly, I have never seen anything like this before. 

I too hope it is not 100 percent silicon.


----------



## poppameth (Oct 2, 2008)

I also do this, usually when there are persistent cracking issues in a corner. But yes it is always done before painting, not after in a lame attempt to hide your bad cut-ins.


----------



## MJG196 (Feb 4, 2010)

Wow...I am getting quite a response for my very first post! Thank you everyone - you have given me the confidence to tell my contractor that this is unacceptable. For your reading pleasure, here is what my wife sent to him:

*Thank you for coming over and going over the final items which needed
addressing with my husband. Our only remaining concern is that of the
caulk issue. As a test, my husband worked on a section of ceiling/wall
joint using only tape and a brush and the result was a clean/sharp
cut-in (before/after picture enclosed). This is how we would like the
crew to make the joints look.

We know the weather will be pretty bad this weekend, but whenever your
crew is able to come over - which is possibly next week following the
snow - we can make arrangements. 

Thank You*

And here is the before/after pic I enclosed:


----------



## Matthewt1970 (Sep 16, 2008)

I am just having a hard time beliving that they caulked after they painted and though they were one. Did they patch th walls right after painting too ??


----------

