Caulking Wood Siding Before Painting

Old caulking that has failed and allowed water to migrate behind the siding can cause wood rot decay and if left undetected mold will most likely grow in your walls.

Caulking wood siding before painting.

The places on the exterior of the house that need careful caulking before painting would be the fascia board joints of the overhang. If doing so exposes bare wood recaulk all cracks between any two nonmoving materials. Is the old caulking removed before new coats are applied. When you re filling small cracks to prepare for painting cut the tip carefully to keep the hole tiny about 1 16 in.

Though you can prime before or after caulking under normal circumstances priming first yields better results. Scrape away any peeling paint adjacent to the caulked areas. A diyer or a novice painter might attempt to achieve a cleaner look by caulking the siding nails but the nail is guaranteed to push the caulking material out within a few months. A common mistake is to cut off too much of the caulk tube tip leaving a hole that s way too big for most interior caulking work.

The next place would be the soffits or the plywood underneath. Let the caulk cure for a few days before power washing the exterior. The nails holding up the siding should not be caulked. There are several different types of caulking on the market.

This can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to eradicate. Don t caulk the horizontal joints on siding where the siding courses overlap. The tiny hole lets out just enough caulk to fill typical small to medium size cracks. Some specialty caulks may need a primer before paint is applied but most caulking is paintable.

Also any butt joints and joints at the peak of diagonal fascia boards. Particularly at the corners where they are mitered together. The different kinds of caulking for your home. Similar to paint previous coats of.

For caulk that will be painted over a latex caulk should be used.