Placing caulk over large portions of wood siding prohibits the natural movement of the wooden panels and can cause extensive damage to the exterior of your home.
Caulking stained wood siding.
There are two main places it never should be installed wood or any painted surface.
Bottom of siding boards should not be caulked water is meant to exit through the bottom of each board.
On the other hand stain or dye will penetrate most materials including wood brick and sometimes even vinyl.
Many professionals like those at james hardie also agree that you should not use caulk on fiber cement siding unless there is no metal flashing underneath.
Therefore if your siding is very old and extremely discoloured your best bet might be to work with paint.
While paint does tend to somewhat glue these pieces together caulking them is never advised and can cause permanent damage.
Siding caulk.
Step 1 select a stainable caulk.
The best way to prevent bleeding is with a water tight seal.
If your molding is stained white caulking would cheapen the finish and diminish the value of the work.
The main side effect of a botched cedar sealing job is chemical bleeding.
Stain generally comes in a variety of different pigment concentrations thus some will cover more than others.
Flashing acts as a waterproofing layer for this type of siding and caulking will prevent the flashing from doing its job.
The best option in the case of stained wood molding is to stain the caulk to match the wood.
Do ride the smooth edge when caulking a seam between a window and textured siding.
Possible side effects of sealing cedar siding.
If paint will ever be applied to an area then silicone does not belong there ever in any way.
Cedar naturally releases chemical extracts when it gets wet.
For pricing and availability.
For pricing and availability.
These chemicals darken as the wood dries leaving streaks that can show up through a layer of stain or paint.
If your molding is painted white caulking with white caulk is all that s necessary for a perfect finish.
Ge silicone 1 10 1 oz clear silicone caulk.
Caulking them is a mistake and the caulking is likely to fail prematurely.