Used to just caulk everything myself until a pro showed me the difference

I bought my house in Cleveland seven years ago and for the first few years I'd just grab a tube of cheap caulk from the hardware store and go to town on every gap around windows and baseboards. Looked fine to me at first but after a winter I noticed peeling and cracking in like three places. My neighbor who's been a contractor for 20 years finally saw me doing it and stopped me... he said I was using the wrong type for the trim work. Switched over to a paintable silicone blend and actually took the time to smooth it with a wet finger instead of just smearing it on. Now five months later and it's still holding up tight with no cracks. Anyone else had to learn the hard way about caulk types around here?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley18111d ago

Seventy bucks on a tube of silicone blend caulk made my last window trim job last two winters here in Cleveland with zero problems. @taylor12 you nailed it on the lazy part, because I was exactly that for years. The cheap stuff just ain't built for the freeze-thaw cycles we get around here. My neighbor basically told me the same thing, that wet finger smoothing trick is half the battle.

robinf5111d ago

the wet finger smoothing trick is half the battle" - man that just clicked for me reading it. I used to get so annoyed with the mess and figured the caulk was the problem. @wesley181 is right, its literally how you finish it that makes or breaks the whole job. I switched to silicone blend a few years back after my dad made me redo his whole back porch. That cheap acrylic stuff shrinks like crazy after a few weeks, then you get those little gaps where moisture sneaks in. The smoother finish alone from silicone is night and day, no hard edges to peel up. Cleveland freeze-thaw is a different beast, you gotta treat it like prep work not just a quick fix.

taylor1211d ago

Three years ago I was Team Cheap Caulk all the way until my bathroom window seal cracked after one winter. A buddy who does renovations told me I was being lazy and that silicone was worth the extra few bucks. Now I won't use anything else for exterior work and I actually take the time to do it right.