caulk question

scatterbrain

It is Oct 4th. I calked window sills, door frames, and where the drywall meets the vanity in the bathroom two days ago. The caulk is still not dry, and the caulk in the bathroom has cracked. Any ideas as to what is keeping the caulk damp (we are in Houston, but the humidity has been very low) and what may have caused the caulk to crack? My wife says the caulk may have been old...she's right there. It has been quite a while since we last used the caulk. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

dc4nomore

Caulk actually does expire. There should be a date stamped somewhere on the tube. I ran into a situation like this earlier this year (I had caulked several areas and DAYS later it still had not dried). I checked the tube and found out it had expired two years prior! And I had just bought it the week before! Needless to say, I got my money back from the Meijer store where I had bought it, and went to Home Depot instead to get some fresh caulk.

Termite

Yes, it can eventually go bad.

Be sure you're doing a clean job as well and are not globbing the caulk on very thick. To keep water back, all you need is a very very thin layer of caulk. Squirting it out of the tube and leaving it as-is won't work very well...You need to tool the joint with a wet finger or a damp sponge to thin the bead out.

scatterbrain

Used every drop I could from the tube then threw it away. It's at the bottom of my trash can. I did get some new stuff from Lowes and recauked. Thanks for the reply so soon. That new stuff comes out pretty fast...even with a small bead.

scatterbrain

Thanks for the reply so soon. Hopefully new stuff will take care of the problem.

dc4nomore

No problem man. Hope it works out for you.