Last year I painted a house (my own house!) that hadn’t been painted in eight years. The two-story house is covered in fiber board lap siding, with lots of joints between siding boards. After consulting this forum, I chose Big Stretch to caulk the house. I cut out all the old caulk, primed the board ends, caulked with Big Stretch (now forever known as BS), primed the caulked joints, then sprayed the house with Kelly-Moore Dura-Poxy. The house was done in September. I’m in Sonoma County, in Northern California, so that was the hottest time of the year, and the gaps between board ends were at their maximum. Over the winter, the boards expanded, the gaps compressed, BS poked out a litlle, and everything looked OK. Now the siding has contracted again, and the caulk joints are failing all over the house, even on the side that doesn’t get sun exposure. I suppose that I can holler at BS and get a big fat refund for a dozen tubes of caulk, but I still have a lot of ladder work ahead of me before next winter.
Should I put more BS in the cracks, touch up the paint, and see what happens? (The answer is probably no, but I thought I’d try) Or, should I cut out all the BS, re-caulk, and touch up? If so, what should I use? The joints move as much as a quarter inch.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer. I’m a nail-bender, not a painter, so I’m feeling my way through this.
Replies
Wow, a quarter inch of movement? I'm not sure what caulk you can get that will move with that. Also, I'd expect that in the heat of summer the planks would be at their largest (heat=expansion)--not that I doubt you, but it's counterintuitive. Are you saying the planks swell in the winter because of the dampness?
Big stretch will move that far and hold in place....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
I'm wondering.......
If the fiberboard lap siding materials are failing and the BS has actually pulled the edge apart leaving the BS with a layer of fiber flakes attached?
Many of the fiberboard products are barely glued together and tend to shed or flake and swell once the original surface/edge is cut or broken.
Maybe you need to add the siding to the "list of the damned" also!
Just a thought.................Iron Helix
In response to your clarifying questions...
Yes, the boards shrink in the summer and swell in the winter, I suppose because they get waterlogged.
No, I just looked and the siding isn't pulling apart, it's definitely the caulk failing.
Lexel..that's what ya want.
View Image
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I used Lexel back in the mid 1980's when it first came to the local market.
We resided my house with rollex vertical aluminum wood grain siding and used the clear Lexel for sealing to assorted window and door trim areas.
I repainted window trim last Sept-October...most of the Lexel joints are discolored, brittle, unattached on the aluminum siding edge. It shatters as it is pulled from the crevice that it was appied to.....needless to say Lexel is not a lifetime caulk.
Cleaning, refurbishing, recaulking and then painting the 51 window and doors in my house took over 120 person hours....did not use Lexel to recaulk.
One of the Lexel failures caused the removal of a 12/0 x 6/8 patio door to replace rotted sills, joist ends and studs.
I used BS on the rework........
Will the ghost of Lexel visit in the guise of BIG STRETCH when 20 years pass.......?????
Hoping for better results than Lexel.............Iron Helix
I'd be talkin to Sashco..read the tube, make em back up the sales pitch. What can I say? I've only used it for the last ten yrs..have not had any degradation on the work that I can still locate or contact..maybe the first batches weren't up to the next gen? Or it just don't work any better than BS..
View Image
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Another thing that can cause caulk failure is overfilling the joint. When you stop and think about it, a thin sheet of rubber will stretch more than a thick sheet, and the same is true with caulk. If you overfill the joint then the caulk has less ability to flex and is more likely to experience separation.
I've used BS and the only time I had a 'failure' was when it didn't bond to the material I was caulking. It's nearly impossible to tell if it's bonded when filling joints. Where it works best is when you're assembling pieces and apply it before the joint is closed. I've also had a problem where it stuck to old finish (paint/ primer/ caulk) and then the old finish bond broke away from wood.
To give a caulk a better chance of bonding in small gaps, I bevel back the gap with a knife so I can control and assure contact with the wood. But I sure wouldn't want to redo a project the size of your's.
MG
I agree with Sphere, Lexel is good stuff. Great adheision and flexibility. At my favorite lumberyard it runs 8.99 a tube.