There is a gap between the built-in stove and the kitchen countertop, and small bits of debris keep falling into it.
Just as I did earlier with the gap between the toilet and the floor, I’m going to seal it with silicone sealant.
First, I apply masking tape.
I wasn’t really sure how much clearance to leave when masking, so I just eyeballed it.
As it turned out, the upper side was just right, but on the lower side the tape was too close to the stove and didn’t work at all.
This is too close. It’s better to leave about 5 mm of space. Even if the sealant spills over too much, you can wipe it off later.
Being too close is the bigger problem and causes trouble later, because the sealant comes off together with the masking tape.
I fill the gap with indoor silicone sealant. I also have a spatula ready just in case.
Here it is after applying the sealant and peeling off the masking tape.
Some sealant came off along with the lower strip of tape, so I repaired it by running my finger along it.
That’s why the sealant has spread out toward the bottom.
Any excess can be scraped off later, so there’s no need to worry much about it.
There wasn’t enough sealant at the right end, so I added more.
Finally, I scraped off the excess with this carbon spatula. Because it’s carbon, it’s unlikely to scratch the surface.
This is how it looks after finishing with the spatula.
