Caulking Smart Siding

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

Caulking smart siding.

Bottom of siding boards should not be caulked water is meant to exit through the bottom of each board. Lp siding requires flexible exterior grade paintable caulk to seal gaps. Your house s siding naturally expands and contracts and caulking it all together prevents this movement. One tube will cover approximately 20 linear feet with a 3 16 inch gap as required for smartside installation.

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. While paint does tend to somewhat glue these pieces together caulking them is never advised and can cause permanent damage. I would recommend james hardi cement lap over smart siding. Water can seep in around butt joints and trim so these areas need to be caulked.

You can also use caulk to repair cracks in your siding. Whether you use caulk or the joint pieces hit the cut edges with primer before you install. Quad max caulk comes in 9 5 ounce tubes and is sold 12 tubes per case. 20 pieces of smartside 5 4 in x 4 in x 16 ft trim equals 320 linear feet.

We repalce an awful lot of smart siding due to rot and deterioration. Do not caulk the underside of your siding i e caulk each piece of siding to the one beneath it. Seal the panels with semi gloss or satin paint in an oil or alkyd base as translucent sealers are not appropriate for composite 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.

Two appropriate products are polyurethane and solvent based caulk. 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. 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.

Caulking them is a mistake and the caulking is likely to fail prematurely.