How do I caulk where a caulk tube won't fit?

Question

I've got some door moldings that are about 1 inch from the adjacent wall. A caulk gun won't begin to get in there, and pivoting the caulk tube up so it's nearly parallel to both walls still doesn't get the tip close enough to the gap.

How should I apply a caulk bead in this situation? Any good tricks, clever tools, or "this worked well enough for me"?

Rough illustration of the situation:

_{(source: CoSketch.com)}

Do you mean the casings are sitting one inch out from the wall? That the jambs were much wider than the thickness of the walls? — bib, Sep 19 '12 at 01:58
Or do you mean that the wall the casing sits on is only 1 inch wide (beyond the casing) before it hits an inside corner? — bib, Sep 19 '12 at 02:20
@bib The second. I added a illustration in an edit to the question that I hope clarifies things. — Jeremy W. Sherman, Sep 19 '12 at 02:33
@JeremyW.Sherman It does, immensely. Suddenly the question makes sense. +1. — Chris Cudmore, Sep 19 '12 at 14:11
Use your finger. Caulk dries and falls of easily. Yea, its messy but it gets the job done :) — Piotr Kula, Sep 19 '12 at 16:06
@ppumkin Tried that, but what a mess. Caulk smears out all over the wall and you end up having to repaint everything. — Jeremy W. Sherman, Sep 19 '12 at 18:56

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '12 at 02:43

12

In addition to DA01's suggestion, there are also smaller tubes of caulk that may be thin/small enough to angle into the casing corner. More costly, but you only need a little (if it fits).

caulk

answered Sep 19 '12 at 02:43

bib

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I've always seen the big, solid tubes. A toothpaste tube of caulk would be just the thing. I'll pick one of these up the next time I'm out acquiring more widgets. – Jeremy W. Sherman Sep 19 '12 at 02:51
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@JeremyW.Sherman There are new, mini-sized widgets, for those occasions when you only have 1 inch between widget sender and widget receiver. – bib Sep 19 '12 at 03:00

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 19 '12 at 01:52

8

If it's an interior door, I'd suggest not bothering. If you can't easily get the tube in there, my guess is you can't easily see it, so it's probably moot.

If it's an exterior door, two ideas:

remove the trim, apply the caulk, re-apply the trim
cut a small bit of surgical hose and attach it to the end of the caulk and use that to apply it.

answered Sep 19 '12 at 01:52

DA01

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The surgical hose is clever. My first thought was a straw, but we had none handy, and I imagined it would just break in the middle or go shooting off to nowhere. – Jeremy W. Sherman Sep 19 '12 at 02:49
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Try a wide diameter drinking straw, or get a short length of clear plastic tube from any hardware store. – GdD Sep 19 '12 at 08:13

How do I caulk where a caulk tube won't fit?

2 Answers2