Are you keeping or replacing the floor? If you're replacing it, I wonder if the gaps will be visible once the new floor goes down.

We are keeping the floor as it is. We just sanded and stained it, so we have new and fresh concrete floors all around the house. I really don't like the look of shoe molding so we wanted something cleaner.

You probably just need to get in there with a razor blade to cut away the drips.

I have tried that too, all the crevasses contain the caulking are stuck to it pretty hard, it's a nightmare job to get it away. Then what to do after?

Looks like you used clear silicone caulking? Once you get that removed, you can recaulk with clear. Then, tape off the caulk, use clear glaze to seal the tape, then use your white paint. The clear will seep and dry, the white paint will have the clean edge.

Yes we used clear paintable caulking. How can I remove the caulking? It’s completely stuck?

We used this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Alex-Plus-10-1-oz-Clear-All-Purpose-Caulk-18072/100024624

Your caulking appears to be a bit clumpy and rough too. It should be a lot smoother. It would be better to remove all the caulking, and touch up your baseboards, and then buy caulk to match your paint, and re caulk it, and try to get it smooth so it looks a lot better.

We tried with white caulking first instead of clear (to match the baseboards). The white caulking also bled down in any crevasses of the concrete floors, giving it the exact look as we have now when we painted it. So that didn't work well either.

How would I go to remove all this caulking under the baseboards? I've tried to cut with a blade etc It's in there pretty good.

Do you have a Dremel?

No, but I could get one. Maybe that's an idea.

Or remove the baseboards and clean it up that way.

Use frog tape on the baseboard to mask off the line of the baseboard at the floor and get a paint in a color and sheen that matches the floor, paint all the white goopy caulk that is visible at the tapeline.

You went wrong pecking order. White cauilk should have been LAST. After the pain , if at all.

Take a razor blade, cut away the caulk. Get some Bar Keepers friend, a siff bristle brush. Wet it make an almost paste and let it sit on the concrete/paint. Scrub vigorously. Darn stuff is a miracle product. Can't hurt to try.on this.

Failing that? You need the stiff bristle, and a commercial paint stripper. That will take as long as it takes. And a very through clean up of the residue stripper.

Frankly? I'd have skipped the caulk. Nobody gets on their hands and knees to stare when a room is furnished. It's a concrete floor........: ) Not a glossy ebony hardwood which would have had a baseboard scribed to the floor..

PS Caulking is a bit of an art , actually. Tape or no tape. Watch a very skilled painter sometime.....

I agree with Jan, I would not have caulked at all.

Caulking can be helpful in stopping drafts. That would be one very legitimate reason to use caulking. Ideally it would be done when installing the baseboard.

Or this. I hate quarter round so put this in. And the beauty is that it flexes enough that it will follow the contour of the floor with a bit of persuasion. It can also be purchased in vinyl making it very resistant to moisture problems.

The reason why we caulked is that we live in the desert, we have dust.. and A LOT of it. To get that desert dust out under the basebords is literally a nightmare without caulking stopping it from entering.

@JAN MOYER Adding white caulking after painting would have bled down in the concrete too. We tried that at first against one wall. All those small imperfections in the concrete floor will suck up the white caulking and give it the same uneven look, unfortunately.

@Maureen I could definitely live with a design like that, only the main downside is that another baseboard lip on top of the baseboard like that will collect a lot of grey dust. It will never be white, it will always be another shelf filled with cat hair and dust from outside. But it's a pleasing look at least.

Maybe it is practically impossible to paint the caulking under a baseboard towards the concrete? All instructions I found on the internet said that I could just paint it, but the results turned out to be terrible. Painters tape also bonds to the caulking extremely hard and some of it will not be removed that easily.

@Juli Maybe your idea is the best. The paint will chip from the concrete floor at some point but that can be touched up easily.

Like I said..................no caulk would have been best. Perfection is often a perilous route to take. Don't ask me about the cookie crumb crust that ended in the SINK before filling. .............just don't ask. : )

Scrub it out, don't make another attemt. Furnish the room, and call it a day. Don't STARE at the "imperfection."

Your floors look very industrial..perhaps a tiny strip of square moulding painted to match the floor color would work..not too dark or too light to avoid any obvious visible dust

We used inverted corner mould in our application

A close up

The inspiration pic Maureen posted above is the by far the easiest solution. I think it looks really beautiful, clean and modern, and you won't need to spend time scraping anything. do caulk between the new and older trim (choose a good quality white no-stretch product). don't caulk the part where the new trim meets the floor. (but I do hear you with the dust collecting. it is what it is.)

less easy: if you pull the trim off, you'll have an easier time scraping the paint and caulk left on the floor. refinish the trim or install new.

if you go with either of these, paint the trim before it goes in. you'll need to do touchups after, but it'll be easier.

15 years later..after changing to LVP

oh to answer your other question: I don't believe you can really paint silicone caulk. even if it says you can--I think that was misleading advertising. Alex is a super cheap brand. I used that same exact product for one room in my home, and paint absolutely does not stick to it. it's all peely and gross looking now. and in some spots, the caulk shrank and pulled away, so I had to redo a bunch of areas.

go to a paint store and ask them about caulk, what is paintable, etc.

edit: I looked it up. you can paint silicone caulk with oil based paint, so that explains why you and I got such peely results. unfortunately, this still means you need to remove the paint and/or caulk and start fresh.

Caulking will never look right

@ILoveMod That is weird as it is advertised to be paintable with latex or oil-based paint. I ate the big one it seems.

Alex is sooooo cheap. like I said, it might have been misleading. my own project looks terrible. I'm sorry this happened to you too!

one other thing you might try: tape off the trim just above the caulk line, and use a wire brush to scrape the paint off the caulk. if this works then at least your project will look much cleaner. if it doesn't come off easily, I wonder if steam would help loosen it?

strugglebrother said " Painters tape also bonds to the caulking extremely hard and some of it will not be removed that easily." That's why I mentioned frog tape, it's heavier duty than painter's, made for wet conditions, adheres well and removes very easily. I never use painter's tape for painting! Latex caulk is paintable and latex paint adheres well, but don't use an oil paint on it, silicone caulk is not paintable even if they say you can paint it with oil.

I don't care what the caulk manufacturer says, that caulk is not compatible with paint. You've got to dig it out, maybe try a multi tool, or shoe mold over it. I'd paint the shoe first, then fill the nail holes.

That caulking will never hold-up there. Use shoe molding.

Has the concrete been sealed so that it is as non porous as it can be? Maybe that will stop the paint from bleeding into the concrete floor. I don't know...I'm not a pro at that kind of thing.

Since you like nice clean lines, I would go with the square moulding at the bottom, and have it look nice. What you have now, doesnt.