Waterproof A Laundry Room

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oldparttimer

Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2022
Messages
10
Location
Cincinnati, OH
I do a lot of things in rehabbing. My helper died recently and I hired a Contractor to finish my basement. He hasn't finished my laundry room. I had them install padded linoleum flooring in my laundry room. He may or may not return to finish the room anytime soon, as he has purchased a home he is rehabbing. I can finish it myself, but I need to know one thing. I want to waterproof the room. Should I put the baseboards right on the floor? I don't see a need to leave a gap. I will caulk the baseboards when I am finished.

Thank you.
 
You will want to seal the gap between the floor and the base. Squirt some silicone, smooth it out and set your base into the silicone. Finger off the excess and you’re done.


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oldparttimer said:
T

Thank you. And you as well.
Click to expand...
Silicone is messy, so for a nice clean line you can always put blue tape a quarter inch out in the wall and press it from one to the floor.
Put another stripe of tape a quarter inch or even an 1/8 in up on the baseboard. Press that down smooth and tight also using your finger.
As soon as you smooth the silicone out nice and pretty, peel the tape off and it will leave a nice straight line on the floor instead of getting silicone smeared all over.
Silicone is messy.
Do a search on YouTube for silicone caulking and if you use the right words you'll find some videos using the tape method.
 
highup said:
Silicone is messy, so for a nice clean line you can always put blue tape a quarter inch out in the wall and press it from one to the floor.
Put another stripe of tape a quarter inch or even an 1/8 in up on the baseboard. Press that down smooth and tight also using your finger.
As soon as you smooth the silicone out nice and pretty, peel the tape off and it will leave a nice straight line on the floor instead of getting silicone smeared all over.
Silicone is messy.
Do a search on YouTube for silicone caulking and if you use the right words you'll find some videos using the tape method.
Click to expand...
I had a contractor here that said if you use tape you are not really a painter. I guess that is true. Since I don't have his experience, I will use the tape method rather than make a mess. Maybe one day I will not have to use tape. Until then, thank you for your advice.
 
oldparttimer said:
I had a contractor here that said if you use tape you are not really a painter. I guess that is true. Since I don't have his experience, I will use the tape method rather than make a mess. Maybe one day I will not have to use tape. Until then, thank you for your advice.
Click to expand...
Maybe with painter's caulking but silicone is a different ball game... I've seen glaziers who work with it every day of their lives and they use tape. It's just the right thing to do.
 
REAL painters use tape............just not nearly as often. Their criteria is not just their skill level but the risk factor of what their painting against, what kind of paint and how easy they can wipe off any slips. Generally when they cut in they've got the painter's rag in their pocket as they go along.

Silicon isn't easy to wipe clean. I nearly always use tape with silicone.
 
And use the good GE silicone, it's probably a good 10 bucks a tube maybe more. It's worth it. It behaves better. I don't remember but I think it also smells less.
Laticrete silicone grout caulk might also be a good choice. It's a totally different animal and smooths out nice, it smells more like RTV silicone.
It's unsanded of course and it comes in enough different colors that you might find something you like.
I think you'd be pushing $20 a tube, maybe a little more, maybe a little less.
 
$10 + tax for a tube of GE silicone here. Every once in awhile I run across the $6 or $7 tubes of silicone. They work just as well for me but they sure do stink. Prolly wouldn’t be using them in an occupied residential situation because they do stink so much.

I’m still miffed that GE caulking tubes don’t have the plastic tip cap anymore. That thing was great. Caulk you tub or whatever then put the cap on until next time. No messing with tape or the stupid caulking tip condoms.
 
havasu said:
I use yellow wire nuts to keep the caulking tube fresh.
Click to expand...

Never tried that. Usually it’s a piece of duct tape to cover the tip. That’ll last maybe a week before the silicone starts to harden up in the tip. Now I look for the silicone tubes that have the screw on nozzle tips so I can remove them and poke the hardened silicone out the big end cus you can only cut the tip bigger so many times until that tube is done fer.
 

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