3 Inevitable Aspects of Using Exterior Caulking before Painting

Filling cracks and holes with caulk in your home’s window trim and siding before the painting not only makes the paint task look better, but also improves the quality of painting job. No matter in which surfaces they are, cracks and holes always tend to collect water, which exterior caulkingcauses the paint to peel.

What is Caulking and why it is important before painting?

Exterior caulking is actually a process to seal the joint between two surfaces as well as to fill the small holes. When you are thinking to take an exterior painting project, it is always necessary to use the top quality caulk so that it withstands extreme weather conditions and temperature changes. A good quality caulking job remains flexible for 30 to 50 years. Before caulking joints between two different surfaces, you need to make sure that the manufacturers and quality painting contractors recommends the caulk for both materials. When you will be painting your surfaces, make sure you paint the caulk as well. If you are in confusion whether a particular caulk is suitable for an application, you can contact the manufacture’s customer service associates for assistance.

What is the Best Time for Caulking?

The best time for caulking is the time when you just have finished the scrape, sand, and prime. Caulk adheres better when applied on the primed surfaces. It will be more effective when the gaps, cracks, and holes you want to fill are more evident. Caulking should be done in warm days when the air remains dry. Before a painting job, you need to scrape away any peeling adjacent to the caulked areas. While doing so, some of the bare wood may be exposed. In such cases, you need to re-caulk all surface areas as well as the cracks between any two nonmoving materials.

Caulking the Horizontal Joints:

You should never caulk the horizontal joints on siding where the siding courses overlap. The cracking that situates between two courses of siding provide ventilation points to let the moistures escape from the siding and from inside the wall.It is also useful to fix the small holes in the siding with an exterior caulking compound. Exterior patching compound is also available in a premixed dry powder form that you need to mix with the water. Exterior patches can also be used a way to fill the small holes. For better exterior caulking information you can contact to the professional painting contractors like Clarksville painters.

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