Hi I am Bob Schmidt with Home Remodel Workshop. There are products available out there to see to it that you get the professional finishing touch that you need to wrap up a project. I’ll show you a few things you need to know so you will end up with a great finish.

Every project starts with a material list, be it a granite or courts or Corian type pre-finished floor, cultured marble, tile or a laminate floor. When you are making up this material list, you got to make sure you think about what it’s going to take to finish these products off. I’ll show you what you need to look for.

Now, with just about every project you do, there is going to be an associated finishing product that goes right along with it. Many manufacturers will make custom blended finished products to perfectly match the material and give you that great finishing touch. Let me give you a few examples.

The first example that I’d like to show you here is a pre-finished floor. Although there is no caulk available for this, there is a touch up kit that has all of the colors available in this pre-finished floor. Because it’s a wood grain type product, there has got to be variances in colors in the grain itself and they’ll give you every different color match that will fit into this grain.

With this Corian laminate, they actually make a base color caulk that exactly matches the base color in this Corian. Now, not all Corian colors have an exact matching caulk, but they do have a fallback, either a silicone or another clear type product that they recommend you use along with it. Take their recommendation. Use what the pros use.

With this snap down Pergo floor, I’m sure we’ve all installed one once or twice. They also make some finishing products. Here, we have some finishing putty which is great to use in the nail holes when you put down the toe mold that matches the floor. They also offer—I was kind of surprised, a matching caulk for any small gaps or cracks in transition strips or anywhere else it may be needed.

With this Polyblend grout for a tile job, as you can see right here, there is the selections, 382 bound. Yes, sanded grout. Now, here is a caulk that’s sanded. It’s also a 382 bound. It’s for those areas where you transition from one material to another. They recommend that you use ceramic tile caulk. And if you get the perfect match, you know that you’re going to have a great blend.

Although a perfect match is usually the way to go, not every product has an exact matching color that goes along with it. Generally speaking, what’s recommended then is a translucent or a clear caulk. This wouldn’t be my first choice. My first choice would be to find something that was an exact match. The biggest concern that I have when I’m using a caulking or any type of filler for that matter is caulk failure, using the wrong type of product in the wrong situation. If you do a little bit of research on the internet, you’re going to find out that there is a lot involved in the chemicals and the make up of these products. You’re hedging your bets by going out there and buying a matching product to the material that you’re using. If the manufacturers providing that material you use with that product, you can pretty much be rest assured that you have the right type of product to use with that.

Now, I’m not a caulking aficionado so please don’t call me up and ask me the best type of caulk to use in different situations. You’ll have to do the work just the same way I did. You’re going to have to get on the internet, do some research, call some manufacturers. Sometimes, even though they say they’re provided by the superstore that sells the product, when you get t that superstore, you find out that they don’t carry those products although they can order it for you if you bring it to their attention that you want a color match and ask them to look in their catalogue to find it. It’s worth the time, it’s worth the effort to get this stuff in advance so that you have it when it comes the time to put that perfect finishing touch on your project.

I’m Bob Schmidt with Home Remodel Workshop. Thank you for watching. I hope these tips helped out a little bit and we’ll see you on the next one.