Caulking Siding Flashing

Placing caulk over large portions of wood siding prohibits the natural movement of the wooden panels and can cause extensive damage to the exterior of your home.

Caulking siding flashing.

Use when installing bath fixtures to seal gaps between shower tiles between sinks and counters and around the base of the toilet. Use around sinks tubs and showers. Paint works well over it. The nails holding up the siding should not be caulked.

Also avoid caulking tongue and groove siding boards together. Paintable silicone caulk can be used around the outside of window units to properly seal the window and the siding edge or around the entire door unit. The flashing will channel the water moving down the unobstructed grooves away from the top of the 2 by 12 down the. Caulking here prevents water from resting between the siding and the 2 by 12.

Flashing acts as a waterproofing layer for this type of siding and caulking will prevent the flashing from doing its job. James hardie also does not recommend applying caulk to the horizontal overlap between siding planks see figure 2. Do ride the smooth edge when caulking a seam between a window and textured siding. In the second layer more sheet metal is inserted into the chimney mortar joints and folded over to cover the first layer.

One laying involves tightly playing sheet metal around the chimney edges. Joint flashing butt joint horizontal lap treatment june 2014 james hardie does not recommend caulking butt joints or the horizontal overlaps joint flashing 6 in. Seal small cracks and gaps in your siding under 1 4 inch wide using an acrylic latex caulk. Metal flashing or any metal to wood joint should not be caulked another water exit pathway that should never be sealed.

Siding is often textured and if you slide the tip of the tube along the bumpy texture the bead of caulk will. Effective roof flashing around a chimney includes two layers. Pieces of 18 inch wide flashing installed prior to the brick work but on top of the house wrap in a stepped fashion periodically laying on top of the lapped upper portion of the siding to get the water back to the exterior of the wall is more along the lines that i would be thinking of. Getting the right sealant on your flashing is the best bet.

Siding nails should not be caulked another item that needs room to play is siding boards themselves.