Getting a smooth bead
Thank you for your kind remarks. It can be a challenge getting a "professional" looking finish on your caulking. There are a couple of tips when applying caulking. If you are caulking a large seam, it is best to push the caulking gun ahead of you rather than pull the gun toward you. This enables sufficient material to get into the seam, preventing what we call "bottomless" seams (where the caulking doesn't reach the seam bottom) and also keeps air from being trapped in the seam. For smaller seams, such as around hardware, pulling the caulking gun is fine. You want to make sure when you cut the nozzle, that you pay particular attention to the size of the orafice. If you are caulking around a cleat, for example, you would want to cut the nozzle at the very smallest point. Too large of an opening cut into the nozzle for the project you are doing will definitely affect the final appearance. It also works quite well to cut the nozzle at an angle and when caulking to have the longer side of the nozzle on top. This will help give you a nice even bead. Lastly, you can dip your finger into some soapy water or spray your finger with our product "Release" and then run it over the bead to smooth it out. By the way, "Release" is also a great tool to clean up with afterward, both for your tools and if you happen to have some smears on your fiberglass.
