Wall/Sink rail abutment - how to get nice paint line?

[shleprock]

I know this isn't a painting forum...but I am struggling with getting a nice looking joint where my wall meets the sink rail ledge..see attached pic...any tricks someone might be willing to share? I failed with my first attempt (tried to tape the tile off). I was thinking for my next attempt, to 1) tape off the tile almost up to edge at wall 2) paint the wall up to (and slightly over tape) 3) after paint dries...tape wall leaving very slight gap above tile 4) run bead of caulk in joint....what do you think? Appreciate any direction...

Thanks
Tony

[cx]

Is this a wet area? Are you using a paintable caulk, or a silicone sealant?

[shleprock]

It is not a particularly wet area but is a bathroom wall. I have not done any caulking in this area yet but have used the laticrete latasil bright white caulk in other areas to match the spectralock pro that I have used on this bathroom project elsewhere.

[cx]

If this "bathroom wall" is not within the shower area, it wouldn't likely be considered a wet area.

If you've not caulked, but intend to caulk with a non-paintable silicone, such as your Latisil, I would want to prime and paint at least the first coat of color before installing the sealant. Any necessary paint touch-up is usually pretty easy if that's done.

I actually would have preferred to have primed and painted just over the tile line before installing the tile.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[SpaceCadet]

Instead of taping it off, you want to cut in with the brush. There are a lot of videos on youtube showing how to do it of varying quality but this one is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QpdW-l0FRg. This takes some practice but works great once you get the hang of it. You can still tape off but mostly as an extra precaution. If you do tape, you want to pull the tape off while the paint is still wet or at least score the edge with a razor so the paint doesn't peel off with the tape.

I can't see from the picture if there's a lot of grout between the wall and the top row of tile. If you already tried to paint and go paint on that, you could clean it off and try again. Caulking over the extra paint would work too but now you don't have grout there. Best option is to paint before the grout is applied like CX said.

[lochrie22]

Not all tape is the same. I have done a lot of chair rail painting and yes you can cut it in with a brush it but I have found using Frog Tape (Green and more expensive) works very well and provides nice clean lines with no Paint leaking.

Like SpaceCadet said the trick is to pull it off while the paint is still wet

[SpaceCadet]

If you do use tape, get good tape. Don't cheap out. I agree with Chad: Frog Tape is good stuff.

The reason I say not to mask off is because the tape will have trouble sticking tightly to a rough surface like grout. You will probably get paint seeping under it. If I remember right, the yellow from tape is lighter and maybe more pliable so it may do better. If you cut in, it might get up on the grout a bit but I think it will do that in a uniform way and look ok.

[Flyingscot]

Why use a silicone based caulk in a dry area at all? Seems like a whole lot of work for not much in return. I used run of the mill painters caulk for my transition and it looks fine. Plus it was waaay easier.

[Pirate]

I assume there is white caulk between the tile edge and the gray painted wall?

Apply the green frog tape at the joint. Run a putty knife along the edge, to be sure it is firmly attached. Then, using white paint, paint the edge where the tape meets the wall. A thin coat, just enough to seal the tape. Then, paint the wall next to the tape, with the gray paint. Again, a thin coat of paint there. The next day, peel the tape off at a 45 degree angle.

[shleprock]

Thanks all for the advice. I completely agree on painting the wall prior to tiling being the best...makes sense. I was just worried about slopping that paint finish up with the mortar and grout. Going to experiment a bit and find what I like best. Thanks again....