So life has been a bit cray cray around here (I will have to elaborate more in future posts) but suffice it to say, we have been busy here at the Freeman household!
Many of you know I am in the process of a major office and cosplay closet remodel in my little 1950’s ranch house. Since we have some major projects in the works including: fully painting the room, stripping, staining and refinishing the wood floors, replacing doorknobs, putting in new windows and having the exterior of the home resided and painted (oh my gosh, I am so freaking exhausted just reading off that list), we have been playing a balancing act of scheduling time off from work, childcare for the kiddos and getting all our ducks in a row for home improvements, so we won’t be able to embark on the big week of the heavy work till mid-April.
But in the meantime I wanted to share some of my pre-remodel preps! One of the biggest ones is caulking up the gaps along the baseboards. I initially wanted to seal these for purely aesthetic reasons (they looks so fugly!!) but then I started noticing 1) spiders crawling in and out of the gaps (yuck!) and 2) a slight draft coming from the gaps, especially the gaps around the drywall and closet doorframe.
Some of the gaps that ran the ENTIRE FREAKING LENGTH of my closet. Similar gaps throughout our house. What the….?!
Gaps in the baseboards between the wallboard and the floor don’t stop air from finding its way into the wall space and traveling throughout the house. When researching the matter further I learned that there is actually a lot of air moving within the interior and exterior walls, floors and ceilings – especially in older homes like mine.
Since warm air rises, air from your furnace will take any path it can find toward the top of the house. When it travels through your walls on its way to the attic, the space between it leaves behind is replaced with other air, which creates a draft.
I explained my issue to the awesome folks Sashco, and they recommended I use their caulk The Big Stretch for this particular issue and sent a sample, along with some other home improvement caulks to try. (I will be following up on their eXact color caulk in mid-April when my office renovation is complete. The eXact color caulk can be colored to match your walls paint colors, so if your baseboards are white and your wall is blue or yellow or whatever, you can tint the caulk yourself to match the wall! Haven’t used it yet but excited to give it a go!)
Here is the Big Stretch blurb from the Sashco website:
Homes move. Window frames pull away from the siding or doors shift against the brick. They move when the temperature changes, the rain falls, the wind blows or the earth quakes. Most caulks can’t take it – they dry hard and crack. That’s why you need Big Stretch® high performance water-based sealant. Its powerful adhesion and extreme elasticity will stick, twist, bend, compress, and stretch – more than 500% of original size! – to handle most any movement your home can dish out, all without cracking.
The Big Stretch helps you avoid repeated repairs: Just say no to brittle, cracked caulking. Stays soft and elastic over time for a years-long, lasting seal.
• Sticks, even to difficult surfaces: Compatible with a wide variety of building materials, including difficult ones like vinyl windows and siding. No need to search for a product specific to every different surface.
• Professional-looking results every time: The smooth formula is easy to apply, even for a novice.
• Paintable: Paint adheres like a pro, so go ahead and paint your wall bright blue. Also available in 12 colors and clear, in case you don’t want to paint it.
• Easy to use: Easy to smooth and clean-up with water. No special chemicals required.
• OK to leave in your unheated garage overnight: Freeze-thaw stable through 10 cycles.
Lovely gap-free seam now! (Not yet painted, but still 1000% better!!)
Closet fully caulked and painted! Now to focus on the office….
I have only worked with a handful of caulks in my two years of being a Pinterest obsessed new home owner, but I was super surprised at how easy it was to work with this caulk! Another cool surprise was that the white of the caulk matched my white walls and floor so perfectly that I really didn’t need to paint over it (but I still did because I am OCD like that..)
It was so strangely cathartic, sealing up old gaps, and smoothing out little seams all over the closet, that I ended up caulking the whole damn thing.. like… even little seams on the top shelves and baseboard seams on the corners. The whole closet looked so CLEAN, and crisp and complete, it felt like I had a whole new storage room! When I finished caulking, I felt like a cat playing with a laser pointer, when the pointer suddenly disappears. I was rummaging around in other rooms to find areas to seal and seam up! Haha.
I am looking forward to trying the other caulks in Sashco’s line of products… since I have rain gutters to fix, cracks in my chimney, and cracks in the concrete in my driveway, it is excited to know that Sashco has the right caulk for the job. You can check out their full line of caulks and sealants by CLICKING HERE.
Notice the pre-caulked cracks in the background?? Yikes!
They also have a great collection of tutorials and how to guides on their website, that you can view by CLICKING HERE.
Oh! Also! The folks at Sashco gave me a couple of shirts to give away! I kept one for myself because I am selfish like that (sporting it in the photos above!) but I am going to give one away with this post, and another away on the upcoming post when I redo my office! This shirt is in reference to their sidewalk crack repair caulk, and says “Fill your crack” on the back. I have no idea why this makes me giggle so hard. *wink wink nudge nudge*
Enter to Win!
Enter for a Chance to Win a Size Medium Sashco “Fill Your Crack” T-Shirt!
– Entry is open to United States residents that are over the age of 18 years.
– You can enter to win once per day.
– The entry period is from March 24, 2017, to April 15, 2017.
– Winner will be notified via email and must respond within 48 hours or the prize will be forfeited and a new winner selected.
– Domestic Geek Girl will forward the prize winning goods to the lucky person.
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I love that shirt. That can be taken more than the way it’s intended. Love it.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
A closet remodel is so exciting! We could probably use something like this in our apt. I need to check for floor gaps.
Fill your crack…ha ha hilarious! great job, it was fugly before
Right?!??!
Great job I see a big difference
Wow, the after photo looks great! If I need caulk I’ll look for this brand.
That’s awesome. I went a little caulk crazy a few summers ago when the ants kept getting in my bathroom. There are no cracks left unfilled in there now. lol
LOL, it is funny that the number one driving factor for women caulking the heck out of a living space is bugs… 😉
Caulking is a great way to fill cracks like that and keep those little guys out.
Great post and very useful product . Have a nice weekend 🙂
Wow, this product works well!
Kisses, Paola.
Lovely result!
Wowww this is a great job
kisses
Maggie
Hi Gingi! You probably just noticed the post I did on my new radiators, but there is a bit of a crack on my upstairs one that is bothering me. I am going to have to get this product for this project! Really nifty.
Sweet! It is insane how our home improvement projects usually parallel one anothers! haha
Wow! sounds like you have your work cut out for you, great job on the caulking.
I would also want to seal up any gap that spiders could hide in as I absolutely hate them! It looks like you had done a great job and the finish is so neat and clean 🙂 x
Yeah, maybe I am just OCD, but I feel so much more peaceful with all gaps sealed and seamed up! haha
This worked really well! It looks so nice now. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks sweetie, I am so happy with the results!
Looks like you got great results with it!
Oh wow I love it the result!
xx
In my real life I sell products like this. I’ve never come across ones you can tint yourself. Looking forward to reading more about that.
Oh really?! I seriously thought you were a full time chef! (Not even joking!!!!)
Seems like a great product for home improvement needs.
LaToya
http://www.toyastales.blogspot.com
Oh wow, you have a lot on your to do list but it will all be so worth it in the end! Can’t wait to see it when it’s finished!
Have a great day,
-Kati
Yeah, I am trying to hold on to the excitement aspect, and trying not to get overwhelmed! haha
Hey that stuff sounds great and much more streamlined and clean looking with the gaps filled in. And excited to see the end result!
Allie of ALLIENYC
http://www.allienyc.com
Yeah, the difference really is so night and day!
That is very effective!
wow such a great products, thanks for sharing babe!
xx
Mónica Sors
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What a great idea, it looks super handy!
Have a lovely day 🙂
Rosanna x
I need one of these too, babe! xoxo
What a great product and simple to use. Love the shirt, haha!
Awesome
Aly In Wanderland | <3 | New Post
These seems like such a great product, so easy to use and effective! Oh, and how cute is that shirt!? Thanks for sharing, beauty, and I hope you have a great week ahead!
XO,
Jalisa
http://www.thestylecontour.com
Yeah, I feel totally legit now that I have a brand work shirt! hehe! 😉
This product sounds impressive, I love “after” effect 🙂 Hope you’re having lovely Monday, dear!
I love anything from the 1950’s! Something about that era is just fun and colorful! You give some really good tips on DIY which can save a ton of money and time. Really love you and this blog and glad I found you from Launna! Hugs…
I have to be honest and say I am not a fan of the ranch house style from the 50s… but the previous owners made some awesome architectural changes that have really opened up the place!
Fill your crack is great 🙂 Loved the T-shirt! I bet it felt cathertic, I also love to fix some things around the house and I often use glue – this one sounds very good, it is even paintable! I hope you can relax a bit, soon, being exhausted just by reading the list of things to do is not good 🙂 But at the same time, so rewarding doing things by ourselves, to improve life and the place we live in! Hope you have a lovely week!
DenisesPlanet.com
We were initially going to do everything DIY, but have decided to hire professionals to handle the windows and painting the outside of the house.. so my stress level has dropped drastically! haha. Have a lovely week yourself my dear! <3
😉
Bem legal esse produto!
Ótima segunda!
Beijo! ^^
I have some seams to fill up at my place, too (my house was built in the early 60’s, so I know your pain, ha!) and this stuff sounds awesome!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
It makes me wonder if the house was put together this way, or just shifted and settled over the years? (half a century now… yikes!)
That’s one handy tool 🙂
ALYSSA // STYLE VANITY
I’m glad this problem with the cracks was fixed. Looks lovely now.
http://www.fashionradi.com
I love your home improvement DIY tips Gingi, I can find some great uses for this product.
I bet you could use that stuff on cosplay projects too! I was watching Cosplay Melee & a gal was using Bondo to make a helmet look metal. Your sister uses expanding foam to the Harley Quinn mallets. You can get all meta & make something cosplay with it & put it in your cosplay closet, newly improved with it!
Haha, there you go! Thats a great idea, I notice the more I cosplay the more I get my supplies from hardware stores, haha
That sounds great! I’ve actually just had some new shelves put up and wanting to finish them off more neatly, so thanks for the product recommendation!
aglassofice.com
x
For sure, I am so glad you found this post helpful! <3
Awesome. Now I feel like I need to walk around my house and inspect all of my baseboards…
Looks like a great job and a good product for it, I love a bit of DIY it is so satisfying!
Wow! Great job!
http://www.recklessdiary.ru
Great post dear 🙂
Cool, I like it!! Enjoy the week doll!
Mary María Style
Looks like a simple DIY. I wonder if it comes in browns for my wood trim…
I miss you Gingi! I hope all is well 🙂
this product is so cool! thanks for sharing <3
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