I am looking at a new house. The joints of the base board trim and the trim around the door have been filled with a silicon caulk. Most of the gaps are very small/small. Is this a sign good or bad work?
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It depends somewhat on where the caulk lines are located. Even the best trim carpenters can have difficulty getting trim to lay flat on a bowed wall, for example.
Caulk at miter joints and/or butts is not exactly a hallmark of good work, but it's typical for most new construction. Very small gaps (i.e. 1/32 or less) seems pretty acceptable to most people, but it's a subjective call, of course.
It was mostly on the inside corn of the base board trim.
PS:
I should also point out that you can't be too quick to extrapolate here. That is, mediocre trim work doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the house is mediocre, too.
If this is painted interior trim....
Then yes it is a sign of very , very bad work.
Silicone doesn't hold paint.
Yes it is painted interior trim. The caulk was a paintable window caulk.
Was the paintable window caulk a silicone or latex product?
Even the paintable silicones don't hold paint all that well.
And you really shouldn't be able to see the caulk in a joint. At best, it should be filling a hairline gap.
When you say you're looking at a new house, do you mean new to you, or recently built? The obvious use of caulk to fill gaps in a recently constructed house would have me trying to look "under the skin" since it's a sign of lack of skill or rushing.
It's not likely to be silicon (or even "silicone") caulk, since it's probably been painted. If not, I would have to wonder why.
More important than caulk at the baseboard joints is the overall quality/structural integrity of the house and any potential repair issues. Will you have a home inspection?
There should be no gaps in finish work.
If you have a problem with certain Breaktime members, put them on ignore. Don't go whining to the moderators about it. Grow up already. Buncha Marys.
J
There should be no gaps in finish work.
Exactly, and worth repeating!
BTW, whats with the tag line, got something to do with the tav? Just currious, guessing it has to do with something that went on in the tav.
Doug
who had the tag line???
caulk is not a piece of trim....
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Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yeah....its the Tav....meant to turn it off for non-Tavern posts.
If you have a problem with certain Breaktime members, put them on ignore. Don't go whining to the moderators about it. Grow up already. Buncha Marys.
It's just baseboard. Focus on the things that are more important. How often are you going to be eyeing up the base and shaking your head about it. Most of it will be covered up with your furniture, no?
Forget about the base and move on.
http://grungefm.com
some - many - fine looking trim jobs will have some joints that need some attention. a perfect coped inside joint will need nothing but paint. But I think a smoothed out bead of calk applied prevents hairline cracks. same as along all the long seams. on an outside joint that may be less than perfect I prefer to use a high quaity filler, same with any scarf joints - then sand to perfection, with paint, will be invisable.
The key is you shouldn't be able to tell that it is calked. people think that any joe can/will do a nice job calking. I once had to scrape off all the calk that a homeowner had applied and redo it for him. he was trying to same me the time by doing it himself.
EDIT: U sure it was is silicone or is it a latex calk?
Edited 11/5/2006 1:02 pm ET by alrightythen
Edited 11/5/2006 2:07 pm ET by alrightythen
But I think a smoothed out bead of calk applied prevents hairline cracks. same as along all the long seams.
I think you're correct with your comment. On a different thread, someone was pointing out that their "paint grade" work actually ends up costing more than "stain grade". One of the things painters spend a lot of time on is applying very small beads of caulk on inside corner work when the trim is to be painted white (or some other bright color). It just looks better with a tiny bead of caulk, and it will prevent hairline cracks in the paint.
If you noticed it, it's not done well. If you didn't notice it was done well.