Caulking Wood Siding Before Painting

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.

Caulking wood siding before painting.

Don t caulk the horizontal joints on siding where the siding courses overlap. Is the old caulking removed before new coats are applied. Particularly at the corners where they are mitered together. The next place would be the soffits or the plywood underneath.

Scrape away any peeling paint adjacent to the caulked areas. Before beginning a do it yourself painting project learn the proper preparation procedures or you may end up making the job harder than necessary. Some specialty caulks may need a primer before paint is applied but most caulking is paintable. Though you can prime before or after caulking under normal circumstances priming first yields better results.

The different kinds of caulking for your home. When you re filling small cracks to prepare for painting cut the tip carefully to keep the hole tiny about 1 16 in. Work efficiently by following each step. For caulk that will be painted over a latex caulk should be used.

If doing so exposes bare wood recaulk all cracks between any two nonmoving materials. Let the caulk cure for a few days before power washing the exterior. This can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to eradicate. 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.

Caulk should dry before painting over it otherwise it can cause new paint to crack and warp. Also any butt joints and joints at the peak of diagonal fascia boards. Similar to paint previous coats of. The places on the exterior of the house that need careful caulking before painting would be the fascia board joints of the overhang.

The tiny hole lets out just enough caulk to fill typical small to medium size cracks.