I’ve stripped a clapbaord sided house completely of paint. Before I paint where should caulk? Around the windows/doors? The vertical where the clapboards meet the corner mould? Most of the joints are fairly tight, 0″ to 1/8″ gaps for the most part.
Or is it best to just paint these areas as good as possible, letting air get in the gaps so the wood will have a chance to dry out.
Thanks for the advice…
Gerry
Replies
Sand, prime, then caulk verticle joints, then finish coats
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I`ve siad it once before on here that gaps in wood are avenues for ants , bees, termites etc...i have seen carpenter ants eat out whole walls due to water getting in behind the siding. The wetter the wood the more ants will come( I heard a good expression on tv once a couple weeks ago it went as follows....water and wood translate into food)So you can take your chances and leave it open or do as i would and seal em up tight,it`s just one more piece of insurance against the elements.And it will have to be rechecked over time so plan on it....
I gather you don't live somewhere in the snow belt. A 1/8" crack up here is plenty of room for the wind to blow through. So if it were my house here I'd caulk everything.
Thank you for the replies everyone. The house is near Poughkeepsie NY (upstate NY). So I guess it is the snow belt. The house is from the mid 1800s so there are bound to be some gaps.
I'll take piffins advice and prime the caulk. Paint adheres to caulk better than primer does?
Gerry
"I'll take piffins advice and prime the caulk. Paint adheres to caulk better than primer does?"
If you caulk unprimed wood, then the wood will wick stuff out of the caulk, the stuff that keeps the caulk flexible.
So scrape and sand, then apply the primer, then caulk, then paint.
Do not scrape and sand the entire house and then start priming. You need to prime the same day you scrape and sand. If you scrape/sand an area and then come back to prime it the next day (or later), you will usually find yourself doing more scrapping. The edges of the paint you left will lift.
You can prime the whole house before painting if you are sure the whole job isn't going to take more than two or three weeks. Most primers should receive the paint within thirty days. So I prep one wall at a time and then paint it before starting the prep on the next wall (not that I'll ever be doing this again!!! I hate painting).
Or be prepping two walls at once so you have something to do while the primer and then the caulk dry.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
I love this forum. Thanks again all. I'll caulk 1st.
Gerry
Caulking everything will trap water.
Caulk the vertical seams. And places like the tops of windows and doors that don't have proper flashing.
caulk it all. verticle and horizontal joints(over and under windows doors). keep out everything. all joints need to be caulked on siding. but you gotta be patient and run a nice bead. not this glob it on a smooth it with your finger stuff. my guys always do that then i got say hey slow it down smoothing out only thins the surface. thats why i always back caulk whenever i side a house.then caulk the front.
tyke
just another day in paradise
G.E. Ely Construction
Ocracoke NC
I'm with the other guys; you don't caulk "lower" horizontls -0 and upper horizontals (above windows and doors should be flashed and on't need caulk.
ALthough it doesn't happen often, if water can get behind siting and hot escape below you've got problems.
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
yes you are right i dont know what i was thinking. i laso flash all the horizontal areas.
D' ohhhhhhhh
tyke
just another day in paradise
G.E. Ely Construction
Ocracoke NC
Remind me to not buy a house in Ocracoke.
I never caulk the horizontal joints below windows, below doors, or at a water table below a run of siding. I rarely caulk the joint above the doors and windows, since that is a place for flashing, not caulk. (If the flashing is missing when I get the job, and the HO refuses to get it done right, then I will caulk this.)
I never caulk the bottom, angled edge of siding where it meets the roof. Again, flashing is called for, not caulk.
I never caulk the bottoms of column wraps. It would trap the water that condenses inside the space.
And I never caulk the bottom edge of lap siding.
As mentioned by others, doing those things would trap water. When caulking, you need to think like a drop of water, and like water vapor. Once you have that mindset, you need to absolutely prevent water from getting in. But you must be just as sure to absolutely let it out once it gets there. And don't forget that anyplace that air can get, water will also get there -- because it will condense there.
On second thought, maybe I should move to Ocracoke. I make a lot of money replacing rotted trim and siding -- most of which was caulked on the bottom.
Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.
I see no reason to not caulk below a window, assuming the siding runs right up against the sill. There is nothing above to catch water (so no water to "trap"), and the gap below the window can't be conveniently flashed. Likewise, it makes sense to caulk large (bee-sized) gaps on the bottom edge of lap siding. Unless the siding is in really bad shape or really poorly installed these gaps will be few, and caulking them can help keep out bugs and wind.
It's possible to adhere to a principle a little too literally.
I think you misunderstood me. After posting I realized I didn't explain my self clear enough. Every thing you say is true. I dont caulk in the same places you don't caulk.
you must have a lot under your windows because if i was a drop of water and i saw that itsy bitsy gap below you window.thats the first place i would high tail it to because once i get behind the siding is when i would have some fun.
same with your doors. i not only caulk the crap outta the bottom of the doors,but i also caulk the crap out the piece of filler i install under the door thresh hold to suport thresh hold that sticks over and is flimsy i also caulk behind this piece and a gin on the front.
And your siding should never meet the roof this also causes rot siding should be at the very minumum 1/2" of the roof .i prefer an inch to give the water or myself as a drop water , plenty of room to flow and not be stopped by that pesky carpenter who let his siding "meet the roof".
I would never caulk the bottom of column rap . don't have may of them around here.because a column wrap is just another place for water hide .
It would be pretty poor siding job if you had to caulk the bottom side of lap siding.and i dont do anything poorly.nuthin. well may be type.
Not only do i think like I'm a drop of water. I think of myself as drop of water being hurled by 120 mph winds for sometimes days. Thats why I think like I'm building a boat that the water comes to.
And I am The man that gets Called to repair the rot on Ocracoke because I do a darn site better than the guy before me. I been repairin other peoplles rot for 15 years now and if i gotta fix them all here because i aint gonna be worried about call backs.
I also learned a long time ago that if the customer thinks he can do such a good on his own then he should and to call me when he needs help.
just another day in paradise
G.E. Ely Construction
Ocracoke NC
by the way G stands for Gerald and the E stands for Eugene.
tyke
just another day in paradise
G.E. Ely Construction
Ocracoke NC