Caulking Lap Siding

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.

Caulking lap siding.

The nails holding up the siding should not be caulked. Caulking around windows doors eaves and trim edges gives added insurance that leaks will not occur. Think of a wood home as a living thing. When james hardie siding products butt into wood based materials a 1 8 gap will allow for expansion and contraction of the wood based product.

Caulking your home s siding is a simple process but not necessarily a foolproof one. The siding expands and contracts with temperature and humidity. How to caulk the window trim on lap siding. 25 4 mm on overlap no caulk figure 1.

Whether you are repainting replacing a window or replacing the siding on your house the caulking around the window trim is a very important element. Caulk by its adhesive nature will try to limit this movement leading to widespread failure and cracking in the caulk over time. When you try to restrict either it is at your peril. Is the old caulking removed before new coats are applied.

When deciding how to use caulk on your siding however it is generally more important to consider where you should not use it. 152 4 mm wide 1 in. If overused or incorrectly placed siding caulk can cause more damage to your exterior than good. It needs to move and breathe.

Similar to paint previous coats of. Caulk is by necessity a sticky gooey substance and as such it smudges easily. James hardie also does not recommend applying caulk to the horizontal overlap between siding planks see figure 2. It is generally not a good idea to use caulking on wood siding.