I paid about $300 for a professional to come out and do the caulking between the coping and concrete pads around my pool. My biggest concern was water getting in under the concrete and freezing. It took him a good part of a day. What he did;
- Clean out old caulking. They used a razor to "free" it between the caulking and concrete then pulled it out.
- Prepped the concrete by cleaning with a wire brush on a drill. Just the inside, not the top/face.
- Taped off the top two sides so any spill-over caulking would be easy to clean up.
- Mixed a 2-part caulking solution
- Put it in a large grouting (or icing) funnel bag
- Carefully applied
Pretty straightforward, just tedious. After they applied it can't remember if they just let gravity settle it or if they came back with a tool and smoothed it.
HTH,
Kevin