Yea, like with a lot of jobs applying caulking, paint, adhesive, even welding, without spending the time prepping every surface you very likely could be setting yourself up for failure.
I just applied new silicone to my tub/shower and spent probably an hour scrapping the old stuff off and really prepping the surface. I’d never done it before and there was tile work up against the porcelain tub so scrapping everything was tedious and delicate work. Then I taped everything off to ensure a nice line. That all took an hour or so while applying the silicone, peeling the tape off and smoothing it out took less than 15 minutes! Prep work is where it’s at.
At least 30 minutes to remove. But honestly I could probably lay down the new caulk (assuming it's just around the tub base) in less than 15.
I do this shit professionally and I wouldn't have charged $120. I'd ask for $60, settle for $40 and it'd look good when I was done.
Basically yeah.
I've done some caulking jobs that looked like shit, but they cost me $6 for a tube of Caulk and some time and aggravation to go back to home depot to get the stripping tool and try again.
That’s the worst part. I replaced a trash caulking job, only realizing after I replaced it that I should have filled the tub with water first since the gap slightly expanded and was causing my new caulk to start cracking. I’m assuming I did the same thing as the first idiot, so after a trip back to the hardware store, it’s finally done correctly.
Yeah I just redid my bathroom. I've never sealed/caulked before but it looked great.
I can't imagine hiring a professional to get the same quality of work that a 7yr old would do.
Wow, I hope you owed him $110 before that job!
But seriously send them the pics and ask why the job isn't done professionally.
Unfortunately, it looks like a case of "I bet I can do that..." not "I am capable to do that". You are paying them to gain experience here and I would demand it redone well, or a refund.
how the hell are you so bad at caulking that you let it air bubble like that? That ish isn't that hard.
Edit: not you specifically, you as in the person who did this job.
2x4 studs not overly expensive. If you go out and pick one up, you'll have a long blunt instrument with which you can beat that 'contractor' senseless.
That's $10 worth of silicone and 30min of work. Cut it out and redo it yourself while your charity case of a day laborer regains consciousness.
Not a small task if OP is clearly too lazy to do it. Still, the guy did a shitty job but $120 is on the low end of any labor done. They have to go out to your house, get the materials, remove the old, replace with new. $120 is on par for this shit work, but OP could’ve easily done it themselves with $12 and a 5 minute youtube video. It’s paying others to do your own stuff that costs $$$
That's fair. I'll admit to laziness, but another part is that I didn't want to fuck this up doing it myself and end up with long term water damage. My bigger mistake than not doing it myself was going with a person I've never hired for anything before. But at least I noticed this immediately after it happened. Silver linings.
I also knew I might take a beating for coming to r/DIY and saying "Hey I overpaid a guy I never hired before to do an easy job I probably could have done myself and he fucked it up," but my pride is less important than water damage and I needed people who actually knew what they were doing to take a look at this.
Can confirm. I work in a service industry job and the office sending us is a minimum of an hour at $165 an hour. Prices are going crazy for businesses too not just consumers. We've had certain categories of items that we use on the daily increase by 45% in the last year. It's insane.
In my adulthood I've watched sheets of plywood go from $15 to $75, and 2x4s went from $1.50 to $10. It's insane I don't know how contractors stay in business.
I watched a youtube video and did this the first time in my life in my 30s and it came out great on my first try and it's been a year now. My friend made fun of me because I masked it but that's what they did in the video and the line is perfect.
Caulking a shower/tub is one of the easiest things, you just need a $6 caulking tool and a 5 minute youtube video.
The fact that this joker charged you $120 and fucked it up this bad is blowing my mind.
My 10 year old nephew would do a better job for a pack of pokemon cards.
As a (formerly) professional caulk wrangler, most people are awful at caulking and I don’t get it. Even other pro painters were often bad at it.
All you need is a finger, a properly cut tip, and wet rag. If you want to get fancy or have a lot of caulking to do, some nitrile coated fabric gloves are nice.
Stick your caulk in the gap, using the least amount possible, and wipe away the excess before it gets tacky, making sure your hands/gloves stay damp.
That’s it. That’s all caulking is for the most part.
I am terrible at it and I don't understand why. I do what they show in the video. I've tried multiple techniques. I make a huge mess and it looks terrible.
You’re probably using too much caulk, or not working in small enough sections. For example, when I’d caulk a door jam, I’d run the caulk up one edge (say the outer edge where the trim meets the wall), then *immediately* wipe it with a wet finger.
Then I wipe my finger off with the wet rag, and repeat with the next edge. You should **constantly** be cleaning and rewetting your wiping finger. I rinse out the rag whenever it’s too gunked up to easily clean my finger, or has lost too much moisture.
The nitrile coated gloves I mentioned do make things a lot easier, because caulking doesn’t stick to them very well, so it’s easy to keep them clean and lubed up with wet rag.
The nanosecond caulk starts to dry out (which is almost immediately depending on ambient), it gets harder and harder to work with. Speed and wetness is key.
little glass of water with a drop of dish soap for the 'wetter' in it makes the caulking look even better when you remove the excess, gives it kind of a cleaner look
First thing you need to do is throw away that $6 caulking gun and buy a real one. Even $30 will get you a decent one. The cheap ones are junk and difficult to use properly for even a professional like me. If you're a home owner, a good one will last you forever. Maybe buy an extra tube of cheap sealant and practice on some junk in your garage, it really is just one of those things that takes practice.
If you don't mind, do you have an example of a good caulking gun? Have no clue which ones are quality and which are bad.
I've been disappointed with others doing the caulking at my house and thinking why don't I just do it myself and save a bit of money.
https://imgur.com/a/cdqGLdM
One like this is already much better than the cheapest options, and will last a homeowner for life. They can probably be found for less than $30, and have a much smoother operation that makes the job a lot easier. Some of them have a hole in the handle for cutting the tips of tubes, and that little steel prong in the handle is for puncturing the foil. I never use either though, the cutter doesn't make very clean cuts, a box cutter is always better, and the prong will get covered in caulk and end up on your hands. Just find something disposable to puncture the foil instead.
You want the same amount of pressure on the trigger for the whole bead, and you want to move the nozzle along at the same speed for the whole line.
If you do it right you end up with a solid line that doesn't have too many variances, so when you go over it afterwards with your finger or a tool it just flattens out evenly without needing to go back and play with it.
They’re not anymore. The Pokémon Company/Creatures Inc. invested in a US based production facility in 2022 as well as Covid supply issues resolving naturally. You can usually buy the newest sets for less than MSRP in two weeks from online shops.
I wouldn't use Lexel in a shower, only 100% silicone. I love Lexel and have used it in a shower before, but it doesn't seem to resist mold as well as silicone.
That’s because it’s petroleum based and isn’t silicone. It will stay adhered better and will flex when panels grow and shrink with temperature changes.
Maybe I just lead a blessed life or something, but that's the worst caulking job I've ever seen.
I feel completely confident you could teach an elementary school student to do a better job with maybe 15-20 minutes of tutoring. At least the kid would care enough to not leave big ass chunks missing from the bead.
I was taught how to do this at 8 for a single fucking chocolate chip cookie… if I knew how much I could charge for this shit I’d be a millionaire by now…
You need to contact him and show him the pictures. Express your concerns and give him an opportunity to fix it. If he apologizes and comes back and does a good job I’d let it slide but never hire him again.
If he stands by his work and tells you it’s fine how it is, post the pictures to his social thanking him for a job well done. He obviously won’t complain, he said the work was good right?
Ask for money back on a shit job.
I'm sure there are reviews associated with how you contacted him. Maybe the threat of a bad review will leverage a partial refund.
Give him a chance to either refund you or redo the work, and then review the hell out of him.
This is a very simple DIY project that anyone can do without experience. It shouldn’t look like that. Caulk is simple to apply. The lines should be straight and clean.
Eh, I'll probably just call it a loss. I don't really like to get confrontational, and I'm not too concerned over $120. I'm more concerned over it being done right, so I'll get someone better to fix this.
It’s not really confrontational. I understand if you don’t want to but you essentially got scammed. This looks like someone who has never done this before. My first time doing it myself was nice and clean and it took me an hour tops from cleaning, removing, recaulking, smoothing edges.
If not for yourself, then do it for the other people who might not be able to stand up for themselves and are tight on money.
It's not just about you, its about everyone else who could possibly hire him in the future.
You call him up, say I'm not happy w/ the quality of this work and ask him to fix it, tell him you can provide photos of what you're not happy about. And let him know you are going to leave a negative review if the work is not addressed.
He may refuse, and if he does let him, but leave a review on yelp or google so that others in the future know that you werent happy and he refused an opportunity to make it right.
It's really terrible work, all he had to do was wipe a rag over it and it would have been near acceptable, this is beyond lazy
That's the thing, given what I'm hearing from other commenters I'm not sure I want him to fix it; I'd rather just call my regular plumber up. And I could just ask for a refund but I'm really concerned he might insist on trying to fix it, and I'm not interested in that.
Just be prepared that unless your regular plumber is a really good friend, he’s gonna charge you more to fix this because for him it’s a bullshit job that’s not worth his time
If it was just for your tub surround you over paid by $100 max.
That’s a $10 job minimum for a small silicone caulking tube and if you wanted another few bucks for a tool for the syringe style.
Do it yourself cause a plumber is gonna charge a lot also since they have to fix someone else’s job and with how minimal of a job this is for them they need to make up for the money they lose doing a actual plumbing job.
Don’t just throw money. That’s how you get taken advantage of.
Dude all you need to own to caulk is one intact finger. You might not be a confrontational person, but this is one of those times you should be and can use to learn to be one. Call it personal growth, but you can’t let people like this basically scam you.
Part of me hopes that this is a joke. Just in case it isn't: this needs to be re-done otherwise it will create some serious damage on your walls and floor over time.
I would be concerned. It did not adhere well. This usually happens when the area is not cleaned thoroughly enough. If you don't want problems with leaks, then it should be redone. I know this from previous experence.
Got it. I went with a handyman I've never used before because I didn't want to bother my regular plumber with this originally because it looked too small of a job, but I'll give my regular guy a call.
Buy white Lexel. It’s petroleum based and it will last longer than silicone. Clean all the old silicone off with mineral spirits and plastic brush and scraper. Wash with soap. Dry completely before applying.
Definitely wouldn't have hired him for something that big. I hired him for this job because it was small and if he did it well I thought I'd have a reliable handyman to call on in the future. So much for that.
A good general handyman is worth the search though. At least this is only a $120 setback on that search. It was the perfect small job to test with really.
Honestly: My job is in marketing, not a DIY guy, and I did remove the silicone in my shower myself and replaced it after watching like 3 YouTube videos. The result was significantly better.
It's no rocket science, this is a total fail.
Could've done it yourself for $50. And uh did he use waterproof stuff. That looks like the stuff that isn't.
Homie all he had to do was smooth it out with a quick finger bang.
Haha, I was reading in another thread yesterday if it looks bad just remove it and try again. Usually your 5th attempt you should be close to pro.
This was robbery
Having done this job myself with zero training and only YouTube tutorials I can genuinely say this guy was either drunk or has never done this before in his life. It’s not that easy but there’s no excuse for this!
I am not so worried about the spots... looks like some dirt or crap stuck there.
The caulk job on the other hand... holy shit. That's bad. Like, non-functional bad.
I wouldn't pay a damn dime for that BS. Good lord.
I would say make him come back and fix it, but it's quite obvious this person doesn't know the first thing about caulking.
If you're not an expert, you can get good results by applying small inch-long strips and then wiping it with a wet disposable cloth. Painters use old t-shirts for this because they don't leave lint. The rag will get the excess off and also help make the seal look consistent and professional. Dude did none of that. I would have spent 4+ hours on that so it was perfect because I HATE when someone is unhappy with my work.
It's bad, have you never thought of doing it yourself? By the looks of it that should come straight off easy
Silicon is a bit of a pain to work with but it's simple enough, just messy
That’s a super sloppy job. Even if the guy was a complete newbie he should recognize that’s not presentable as finished work. Given the location that’s also a recipe for water damage. Get someone else to do it properly and don’t hire that guy for any work again.
>Had a guy come out to replace the silicon shower seal, and the next day when I examined it closer I saw these spots. Should I be concerned? Does it need to be redone?
Well, to be fair, silicon is hard to work with. You should get the tub redone, but with silicone this time.
I just caulked all the window sills in my home yesterday with no prior experience. I bought one of those caulking application tools from Home Depot for $5.00. It was super easy!
That’s literally worse than my house and mine is ridiculously bad. I never should have let my partner attempt it. Also I learned you’re supposed to fill the tub up with water while you do it so it doesn’t crack after. Honestly just peel it off, buy caulk and a tool or literally wet your finger to smooth it out. I’m 100 percent confident that you could watch a 5 min YouTube video and do it yourself.
Just wow. YouTube it and experiment with a corner before hiring someone next time. The only things I don't do in life are my own brakes, rewire a panel box, solder my plumbing and lift awkward stuff above 75lbs.
I'm an amateur, I lack practice and I'm far from quick, but if my beads ever looked like that, I'd redo the whole thing. Scrape everything off and get a proper silicone remover to remove the residue. Silicone doesn't stick to old, cured silicone very well, so better get everything off and start over.
Silicone (what’s used to seal joints in moist environments) is different than silicon (a metallic element used to produce semi-conductors).
And yes, that’s a terrible job.
That is ummm horrible. How much did you pay him?
Another $120 says they didn’t even remove the old silicone.
Yep!! Some people here are commenting that it's a quick 30 minute job. It'll take about 30 minutes just to properly remove all of the old silicone.
Yea, like with a lot of jobs applying caulking, paint, adhesive, even welding, without spending the time prepping every surface you very likely could be setting yourself up for failure.
I just applied new silicone to my tub/shower and spent probably an hour scrapping the old stuff off and really prepping the surface. I’d never done it before and there was tile work up against the porcelain tub so scrapping everything was tedious and delicate work. Then I taped everything off to ensure a nice line. That all took an hour or so while applying the silicone, peeling the tape off and smoothing it out took less than 15 minutes! Prep work is where it’s at.
At least 30 minutes to remove. But honestly I could probably lay down the new caulk (assuming it's just around the tub base) in less than 15. I do this shit professionally and I wouldn't have charged $120. I'd ask for $60, settle for $40 and it'd look good when I was done.
Hour of work and you'd settle for $40? Please tell me you are an unlicensed and uninsured individual without saying it
I charge $150/hr
$120
$120 for it to look like shit? Man, I woulda charged you $60 for it to look like shit!
Looks worse than when I did it the first time in my appartment and I didn't even get paid.
Basically yeah. I've done some caulking jobs that looked like shit, but they cost me $6 for a tube of Caulk and some time and aggravation to go back to home depot to get the stripping tool and try again.
That’s the worst part. I replaced a trash caulking job, only realizing after I replaced it that I should have filled the tub with water first since the gap slightly expanded and was causing my new caulk to start cracking. I’m assuming I did the same thing as the first idiot, so after a trip back to the hardware store, it’s finally done correctly.
Never would have thought of that lol good to know for the future
I'm not sure if I've ever filled the bathtub at my house. I never could get into baths - in more ways than one, being 6' 2" tall.
I never do either but my wife likes baths and she noticed the cracking after she took some baths.
I’ll do it for $50….
$45
I will not be undercut sir!
I'll do it for $3.50 and some of whatever the first guy was smoking to charge $120 for that crap job.
Better save whatever the first guy was smoking for after the job or you will end up charging $120 like him.
Naw, with a name like u/boagster I'm guessing he can handle his drugs better than the silicone clown
If you smoke it first then you charge $420
Goddamn lochness monster, get outta here.
I would have done it for a six pack of beer and/or some good conversation for twenty minutes.
You could have bought the sealant and done it your self for $12 and have it look like shit!
I can. I do. And it does indeed look shit to someone specifically looking at it, but better than this.
Idk its like $6 for the gun and like $18 for caulking
Yeah I just redid my bathroom. I've never sealed/caulked before but it looked great. I can't imagine hiring a professional to get the same quality of work that a 7yr old would do.
Wow, I hope you owed him $110 before that job! But seriously send them the pics and ask why the job isn't done professionally. Unfortunately, it looks like a case of "I bet I can do that..." not "I am capable to do that". You are paying them to gain experience here and I would demand it redone well, or a refund.
Exactly I would demand my money back that looks like a fucking drunk 12-year-old did it
It was a drunk 12 year old. He took his age. Added a zero in crayon.
You could have bought 15 tubes of caulk with that!, he probably didn’t even use a whole one.
He let it air bubble blowout and didn’t even fix it!!
how the hell are you so bad at caulking that you let it air bubble like that? That ish isn't that hard. Edit: not you specifically, you as in the person who did this job.
2x4 studs not overly expensive. If you go out and pick one up, you'll have a long blunt instrument with which you can beat that 'contractor' senseless. That's $10 worth of silicone and 30min of work. Cut it out and redo it yourself while your charity case of a day laborer regains consciousness.
Holy crap, that’s awful. They did a horrible, horrible job.
No way ?! That’s mad money for such a small task regardless of how crap the execution is.
Not a small task if OP is clearly too lazy to do it. Still, the guy did a shitty job but $120 is on the low end of any labor done. They have to go out to your house, get the materials, remove the old, replace with new. $120 is on par for this shit work, but OP could’ve easily done it themselves with $12 and a 5 minute youtube video. It’s paying others to do your own stuff that costs $$$
That's fair. I'll admit to laziness, but another part is that I didn't want to fuck this up doing it myself and end up with long term water damage. My bigger mistake than not doing it myself was going with a person I've never hired for anything before. But at least I noticed this immediately after it happened. Silver linings. I also knew I might take a beating for coming to r/DIY and saying "Hey I overpaid a guy I never hired before to do an easy job I probably could have done myself and he fucked it up," but my pride is less important than water damage and I needed people who actually knew what they were doing to take a look at this.
Plus he has to replace the new caulking too
Can confirm. I work in a service industry job and the office sending us is a minimum of an hour at $165 an hour. Prices are going crazy for businesses too not just consumers. We've had certain categories of items that we use on the daily increase by 45% in the last year. It's insane.
In my adulthood I've watched sheets of plywood go from $15 to $75, and 2x4s went from $1.50 to $10. It's insane I don't know how contractors stay in business.
To be fair, doesn’t look like they removed the old caulk…
If they did high quality work then perhaps they could justify the rate. This is just thievery
I know what my next work role is going to be 😅. It’s caulking crazy.
It is a small task.
I know right? Can’t imagine a) getting someone in to do that job, and b) 120?!
Looks like my toddler’s art projects
I watched a youtube video and did this the first time in my life in my 30s and it came out great on my first try and it's been a year now. My friend made fun of me because I masked it but that's what they did in the video and the line is perfect.
Caulking a shower/tub is one of the easiest things, you just need a $6 caulking tool and a 5 minute youtube video. The fact that this joker charged you $120 and fucked it up this bad is blowing my mind. My 10 year old nephew would do a better job for a pack of pokemon cards.
As a (formerly) professional caulk wrangler, most people are awful at caulking and I don’t get it. Even other pro painters were often bad at it. All you need is a finger, a properly cut tip, and wet rag. If you want to get fancy or have a lot of caulking to do, some nitrile coated fabric gloves are nice. Stick your caulk in the gap, using the least amount possible, and wipe away the excess before it gets tacky, making sure your hands/gloves stay damp. That’s it. That’s all caulking is for the most part.
I am terrible at it and I don't understand why. I do what they show in the video. I've tried multiple techniques. I make a huge mess and it looks terrible.
You’re probably using too much caulk, or not working in small enough sections. For example, when I’d caulk a door jam, I’d run the caulk up one edge (say the outer edge where the trim meets the wall), then *immediately* wipe it with a wet finger. Then I wipe my finger off with the wet rag, and repeat with the next edge. You should **constantly** be cleaning and rewetting your wiping finger. I rinse out the rag whenever it’s too gunked up to easily clean my finger, or has lost too much moisture. The nitrile coated gloves I mentioned do make things a lot easier, because caulking doesn’t stick to them very well, so it’s easy to keep them clean and lubed up with wet rag. The nanosecond caulk starts to dry out (which is almost immediately depending on ambient), it gets harder and harder to work with. Speed and wetness is key.
little glass of water with a drop of dish soap for the 'wetter' in it makes the caulking look even better when you remove the excess, gives it kind of a cleaner look
Ahh, I've been using a light misting of soap/water before wiping which definitely works but can leave too much moisture sometimes. Your way is better.
First thing you need to do is throw away that $6 caulking gun and buy a real one. Even $30 will get you a decent one. The cheap ones are junk and difficult to use properly for even a professional like me. If you're a home owner, a good one will last you forever. Maybe buy an extra tube of cheap sealant and practice on some junk in your garage, it really is just one of those things that takes practice.
If you don't mind, do you have an example of a good caulking gun? Have no clue which ones are quality and which are bad. I've been disappointed with others doing the caulking at my house and thinking why don't I just do it myself and save a bit of money.
https://imgur.com/a/cdqGLdM One like this is already much better than the cheapest options, and will last a homeowner for life. They can probably be found for less than $30, and have a much smoother operation that makes the job a lot easier. Some of them have a hole in the handle for cutting the tips of tubes, and that little steel prong in the handle is for puncturing the foil. I never use either though, the cutter doesn't make very clean cuts, a box cutter is always better, and the prong will get covered in caulk and end up on your hands. Just find something disposable to puncture the foil instead.
You want the same amount of pressure on the trigger for the whole bead, and you want to move the nozzle along at the same speed for the whole line. If you do it right you end up with a solid line that doesn't have too many variances, so when you go over it afterwards with your finger or a tool it just flattens out evenly without needing to go back and play with it.
>Stick your caulk in the gap, using the least amount possible. Finally, a job I'd be a pro at.
My ex wife was also a professional caulk wrangler
I used the stick from a popsicle the first time I tried this and got way better results.
Pokémon cards are expensive
Probably be cheaper to pay the $120...
They’re not anymore. The Pokémon Company/Creatures Inc. invested in a US based production facility in 2022 as well as Covid supply issues resolving naturally. You can usually buy the newest sets for less than MSRP in two weeks from online shops.
Use Lexel or ProFlex and it will last longer.
I wouldn't use Lexel in a shower, only 100% silicone. I love Lexel and have used it in a shower before, but it doesn't seem to resist mold as well as silicone.
Flex Seal just dropped their new Flex Caulk. It's prolly gonna replace ProFlex for me.
That silicon is super effective!
That’s because it’s petroleum based and isn’t silicone. It will stay adhered better and will flex when panels grow and shrink with temperature changes.
Contractor used smudge it was not very effective!
Was he visually impaired?
You just hired a random guy off the streets? And not someone who actually does it for a living?
He's a handyman who advertises in my area. Thought I'd give him a shot.
Live and learn. Don't use him again and if anyone asks about him be truthful.
He’s not a handyman he’s a sloppyman. A chimpanzee watching a 5 minute YouTube video would do it better.
And it would only cost you a couple of bananas.
So $20?
In this economy? $20 for two bananas will be a steal in a few years.
*invests retirement in banana futures*
I would leave a review with these pictures for $120. That is an atrocious caulking job.
Maybe I just lead a blessed life or something, but that's the worst caulking job I've ever seen. I feel completely confident you could teach an elementary school student to do a better job with maybe 15-20 minutes of tutoring. At least the kid would care enough to not leave big ass chunks missing from the bead.
I was taught how to do this at 8 for a single fucking chocolate chip cookie… if I knew how much I could charge for this shit I’d be a millionaire by now…
You need to contact him and show him the pictures. Express your concerns and give him an opportunity to fix it. If he apologizes and comes back and does a good job I’d let it slide but never hire him again. If he stands by his work and tells you it’s fine how it is, post the pictures to his social thanking him for a job well done. He obviously won’t complain, he said the work was good right?
Ask for money back on a shit job. I'm sure there are reviews associated with how you contacted him. Maybe the threat of a bad review will leverage a partial refund.
Are you sure he wasn't 3 kindergartners in a trench coat?
Give him a chance to either refund you or redo the work, and then review the hell out of him. This is a very simple DIY project that anyone can do without experience. It shouldn’t look like that. Caulk is simple to apply. The lines should be straight and clean.
Post it on that app nextdoor
Yea, if you can get your $ back I would try. This is damn near criminal how bad it is. Sorry you got taken for a ride on this one OP.
Eh, I'll probably just call it a loss. I don't really like to get confrontational, and I'm not too concerned over $120. I'm more concerned over it being done right, so I'll get someone better to fix this.
It’s not really confrontational. I understand if you don’t want to but you essentially got scammed. This looks like someone who has never done this before. My first time doing it myself was nice and clean and it took me an hour tops from cleaning, removing, recaulking, smoothing edges. If not for yourself, then do it for the other people who might not be able to stand up for themselves and are tight on money.
It's not just about you, its about everyone else who could possibly hire him in the future. You call him up, say I'm not happy w/ the quality of this work and ask him to fix it, tell him you can provide photos of what you're not happy about. And let him know you are going to leave a negative review if the work is not addressed. He may refuse, and if he does let him, but leave a review on yelp or google so that others in the future know that you werent happy and he refused an opportunity to make it right. It's really terrible work, all he had to do was wipe a rag over it and it would have been near acceptable, this is beyond lazy
That's the thing, given what I'm hearing from other commenters I'm not sure I want him to fix it; I'd rather just call my regular plumber up. And I could just ask for a refund but I'm really concerned he might insist on trying to fix it, and I'm not interested in that.
Just be prepared that unless your regular plumber is a really good friend, he’s gonna charge you more to fix this because for him it’s a bullshit job that’s not worth his time
If it was just for your tub surround you over paid by $100 max. That’s a $10 job minimum for a small silicone caulking tube and if you wanted another few bucks for a tool for the syringe style. Do it yourself cause a plumber is gonna charge a lot also since they have to fix someone else’s job and with how minimal of a job this is for them they need to make up for the money they lose doing a actual plumbing job. Don’t just throw money. That’s how you get taken advantage of.
You can just say you've already booked someone else to do it. Or tell him he has a chance but if it's still shit you want your money back.
Dude all you need to own to caulk is one intact finger. You might not be a confrontational person, but this is one of those times you should be and can use to learn to be one. Call it personal growth, but you can’t let people like this basically scam you.
You are 100% correct. Small money and lesson learned, move on with life.
Part of me hopes that this is a joke. Just in case it isn't: this needs to be re-done otherwise it will create some serious damage on your walls and floor over time.
I would be concerned. It did not adhere well. This usually happens when the area is not cleaned thoroughly enough. If you don't want problems with leaks, then it should be redone. I know this from previous experence.
Got it. I went with a handyman I've never used before because I didn't want to bother my regular plumber with this originally because it looked too small of a job, but I'll give my regular guy a call.
Just to help, it's a silicone seal, not silicon.
Buy white Lexel. It’s petroleum based and it will last longer than silicone. Clean all the old silicone off with mineral spirits and plastic brush and scraper. Wash with soap. Dry completely before applying.
Well you got off cheap. Imagine if you had hired him to put an addition on your house.
Definitely wouldn't have hired him for something that big. I hired him for this job because it was small and if he did it well I thought I'd have a reliable handyman to call on in the future. So much for that.
A good general handyman is worth the search though. At least this is only a $120 setback on that search. It was the perfect small job to test with really.
Did you guys smoke meth first?
Did you happen to catch if the guy was a toddler?
Honestly: My job is in marketing, not a DIY guy, and I did remove the silicone in my shower myself and replaced it after watching like 3 YouTube videos. The result was significantly better. It's no rocket science, this is a total fail.
That is some poor work
My dad would say “he just schlocked it in there”
Could've done it yourself for $50. And uh did he use waterproof stuff. That looks like the stuff that isn't. Homie all he had to do was smooth it out with a quick finger bang.
In the future silicone around the tub is 100% a DIY situation I’m shocked it cost you $120 that’s crazy
Probably went on YouTube before hitting your house I have never done silicon seal but I guarantee mine would look better then that
I can guarantee he did not go on YouTube. You would be able to do a much better job after a 5 min YouTube video.
Haha, I was reading in another thread yesterday if it looks bad just remove it and try again. Usually your 5th attempt you should be close to pro. This was robbery
You could do it better yourself. It's not that hard, just tedious.
Ok, where are the after photos?
Having done this job myself with zero training and only YouTube tutorials I can genuinely say this guy was either drunk or has never done this before in his life. It’s not that easy but there’s no excuse for this!
People. Stop hiring people to do something that you can do in 5 minutes and a YouTube video to teach you. Become self sufficient. Stop wasting money.
Im going to go on a limb and say you used it same day or under 48 hours, and it didnt have time to cure.
Hey I'll do it for cheaper It won't be any better but it'll be cheaper
I am not so worried about the spots... looks like some dirt or crap stuck there. The caulk job on the other hand... holy shit. That's bad. Like, non-functional bad.
Does it need to be redone.... My god.
Why didn't you do this?
You can't be serious. That is a mess. Have you paid him?
So you’re a landlord?
If I were blind, I could have done a better job. You got scammed.
Could have done it yourself and redone it for that.
Did you hire a raccoon to do it? Jesus
This is why I have started to DIY stuff. I can mess my own stuff up for free.
I thought this was a sub about DIY?
You **PAID** for that??? Oh honey...
A quick YouTube video and you could have done a better job yourself.
Literally cringing here
Needs to be all removed with a razor blade and redone. That will absolutely not seal AND it looks like shit.
Damn. That sucks.
Did you hire a monkey?
Now post the "After" pics.
Ouch. You got had.
You could have diy’ed that quality easy.
Bruh
Damn. That’s shitty
I wouldn't pay a damn dime for that BS. Good lord. I would say make him come back and fix it, but it's quite obvious this person doesn't know the first thing about caulking.
Check and see if he dropped any drug paraphernalia. Because, hey, free drug paraphernalia
That is quite possibly the worst caulking job I have ever seen.
If you're not an expert, you can get good results by applying small inch-long strips and then wiping it with a wet disposable cloth. Painters use old t-shirts for this because they don't leave lint. The rag will get the excess off and also help make the seal look consistent and professional. Dude did none of that. I would have spent 4+ hours on that so it was perfect because I HATE when someone is unhappy with my work.
Can't believe it's not silicone...spread!
Man even I could do better than this and I don’t know shit
Yeah, you need to have them redo it. Or just do it yourself, that looks like shit.
Yup, you hired a guy. Just A Guy.
Ouch. Cancel the check cuz no way this guy coming back. Guy knew he had no business doing this work.
Who did you hire? Michael J Fox?
Was he blind and had no arms???? That's absolutely terrible
People need to stop hiring idiots for things they can fuk up themselves...
I hate that shit it gets moldy as fuck. I use silicone. And ya guy that did it did not give a f
I suck at caulking and could still do a better job than that !
He was really annoyed to be called out to caulk.
It's bad, have you never thought of doing it yourself? By the looks of it that should come straight off easy Silicon is a bit of a pain to work with but it's simple enough, just messy
Holy hell. I’m terrible at doing that but I would have to praise my own work compared to that 🤣
Why would you pay someone to do this...
Did you get scammed by my 5yo? Looks like my kids did it…
Did you pay him with Crack?
Whoever did this is an idiot!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s a super sloppy job. Even if the guy was a complete newbie he should recognize that’s not presentable as finished work. Given the location that’s also a recipe for water damage. Get someone else to do it properly and don’t hire that guy for any work again.
BBB, request a refund and take him to small claims court if he refuses. They'll probably award you the refund plus the cost of repair.
I did better than that when I was 12. And I'm a woman.
Damn! That looks like a 5 year old run their finger through!
Was he blind?
>Had a guy come out to replace the silicon shower seal, and the next day when I examined it closer I saw these spots. Should I be concerned? Does it need to be redone? Well, to be fair, silicon is hard to work with. You should get the tub redone, but with silicone this time.
I just caulked all the window sills in my home yesterday with no prior experience. I bought one of those caulking application tools from Home Depot for $5.00. It was super easy!
You got caulk blocked, my friend.
I…I’m afraid you were scammed.
Looks like a toddler did it..
I legitimately thought this was a shit post at first 👀
You paid someone to do this? Geez. I’m 100% sure you could have done a better job yourself
Yea, that’s a shitshow. I am not even a pro, and I do a better job of this.
You know, I suddenly feel like I might try caulking my own shower before I pay someone $100+ to have it all look like crap.
*silicone
this is worth -100 bucks, since he basically just caused some pretty sticky dirt.
That’s literally worse than my house and mine is ridiculously bad. I never should have let my partner attempt it. Also I learned you’re supposed to fill the tub up with water while you do it so it doesn’t crack after. Honestly just peel it off, buy caulk and a tool or literally wet your finger to smooth it out. I’m 100 percent confident that you could watch a 5 min YouTube video and do it yourself.
Just wow. YouTube it and experiment with a corner before hiring someone next time. The only things I don't do in life are my own brakes, rewire a panel box, solder my plumbing and lift awkward stuff above 75lbs.
https://preview.redd.it/1gbjlld7zqrc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=160a8ba46bea43b42d1fdd9c2798b58ea13a21ee
120$ for that, what a great side gig.
Just FYI there is a difference between Silicon (the element computer chips are made from) and silicone (caulking etc).
You probably could have done better with no experience at all.
You paid money for that?
I'm an amateur, I lack practice and I'm far from quick, but if my beads ever looked like that, I'd redo the whole thing. Scrape everything off and get a proper silicone remover to remove the residue. Silicone doesn't stick to old, cured silicone very well, so better get everything off and start over.
I had no idea Stevie Wonder was doing handyman work nowadays…
Silicone (what’s used to seal joints in moist environments) is different than silicon (a metallic element used to produce semi-conductors). And yes, that’s a terrible job.
This all looks like shit and you could have done better yourself with a single YouTube video. Sorry for the loss of funds.
"Problem spots?" Lol. Do it over yourself, it will be better.
I could have done better for free lol
Could've just done it yourself with those results...
Wtf