Caulking Smart Siding

Your house s siding naturally expands and contracts and caulking it all together prevents this movement.

Caulking smart siding.

When to use caulk on exterior siding siding caulk can be used on several different areas of your exterior siding to help prevent water damage and moisture buildup. Learn more about our engineered wood siding and trim. Caulking them is a mistake and the caulking is likely to fail prematurely. Do not caulk the underside of your siding i e caulk each piece of siding to the one beneath it.

One tube will cover approximately 20 linear feet with a 3 16 inch gap as required for smartside installation. Lp smartside is becoming more and more the high end composite siding of choice among builders as it looks good is durable and has the advantage of being able to be painted to restore like new condition. Bottom of siding boards should not be caulked water is meant to exit through the bottom of each board. Lp smartside engineered wood trim siding resists damage from impacts better than fiber cement and vinyl siding.

You can also use caulk to repair cracks in your siding. Some of the most commonly caulked areas of siding include both corners and crevices as well as some butt joints and window and door trim boards. 20 pieces of smartside 5 4 in x 4 in x 16 ft trim equals 320 linear feet. Quad max caulk comes in 9 5 ounce tubes and is sold 12 tubes per case.

Lp siding requires flexible exterior grade paintable caulk to seal gaps. The gaps can be caulked with approved products have joint mouldings covers and be flashed from behind the siding provided the opposing ends are factory finished and have not been field cut. Where lap meets trim match caulk to the color of the siding. We repalce an awful lot of smart siding due to rot and deterioration.

Although lp building products siding is available bare or painted cutting the materials to fit during installation exposes some areas to the elements. I would recommend james hardi cement lap over smart siding. Two appropriate products are polyurethane and solvent based caulk. Whether you use caulk or the joint pieces hit the cut edges with primer before you install.

It would be worth a coat of primer on the back side as well prior to isntall.