Caulking Wood Siding Before Painting

John burbidge author of the book watching paint dry shows how to properly caulk windows doors and cornerboards on the exterior of a house prior to pain.

Caulking wood siding before painting.

Hardie plank butt joints and corner trim areas should be caulked to seal up any exposed joints. These are fine for interior millwork but not the best for exterior jobs. Also any butt joints and joints at the peak of diagonal fascia boards. Caulk is a substance designed to seal a joint between two surfaces and to fill small holes.

The places on the exterior of the house that need careful caulking before painting would be the fascia board joints of the overhang. Filling cracks and holes with caulk in your home s trim and siding before painting not only makes the paint job look better but also makes the paint last longer. Cracks and holes in any surface collect water which causes paint to peel. However if you re working on certain surfaces the caulk will not stick without a primer base coat.

Caulk adheres very well to clean bare wood and vinyl. 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. Under normal circumstances you can apply caulk before priming. The next place would be the soffits or the plywood underneath.

If you are working on finished wood do not apply caulk until after you ve primed. When you take special care with caulking siding before painting you can count on your exterior paint job lasting longer. Unfortunately it will not stick well to stained surfaces. Silicone acrylic latex solvent based elastomeric and butyl rubber to list the most common.

Particularly at the corners where they are mitered together. Bottom of siding boards should not be caulked. It is best to avoid a fast dry acrylic caulking for exteriors use. When you re filling small cracks to prepare for painting cut the tip carefully to keep the hole tiny about 1 16 in.

Caulking tips the time to caulk is after you have cleaned and repaired any damage to the walls and millwork. The tiny hole lets out just enough caulk to fill typical small to medium size cracks. If you are painting new surfaces prime first then caulk. Choose the right caulk for the job.

While paint does tend to somewhat glue these pieces together caulking them is never advised and can cause permanent damage.