03/17/2026
We took on a smaller project for a new client, and what a headache we walked into, all due to improper prep work.
Before our client bought their house, the previous owners had the stairwell painted. The caulk on the side risers had severely split more than it usually would if it was prepped properly.
If you do not prep your surfaces correctly prior to painting, your paint will blister and peel. This is exactly what happened here, as well as having the caulk fail and lift.
Most people will see caulk crack and lift and will just caulk right over it and lay it on thicker to cover the split. This will only re-split and lift in a matter of weeks.,
When your caulk fails you want to remove it and wash your surfaces with a degreaser. Also prior to caulking the area again, I would suggest priming the surface in order to ensure your new caulk will adhere properly.
As you can see the paint is flaking right off, so this means we will be doing some scraping and sanding. We removed all the existing caulk and sanded each riser down to remove the failed paint.
After removing the paint from all the surfaces, we washed all the side risers down with a degreaser, especially where the caulk failed. We primed all the surfaces with a bonding primer prior to caulking.
This can be a tedious process especially when doing everything by hand. This took almost 5.5 hours to do because someone couldn't take the time to prep properly.