# Caulking didn't hold up.



## KellyPainting (May 30, 2006)

Alright, I got a high end customer that was done last winter,
full interior, used oil primer (water stains) then ben moore regal.
Now the house sat for a few years before they bought it and was 
not taken care of. Now all caulking in three rooms is separating
and I mean separating!.... it's just 3 rooms... two bathrooms and the master bedroom / grand windows and cabinetry underneath. I used Dapp
25 yr. caulking. Now I know what your gonna say.. but I don't think it's a moisture problem... I'm thinking some king of settling / expansion and contraction problem.... I'm in Mass and the weather can go 30 degrees either way in a days time... a few weeks ago were at 50 and then 0 degrees.. and this weekend is suppose to be 40's or more again.

They payed allot of money, and they are good friends.
I offered to caulk it all up for nothing, but to repaint will be costly.
they would like to correct the problem but don't know the cause.


I told them that I warranty my work, the products warranty themselves
I put it like this to the wife......
Think of me as a makeup artist..who applied makeup to your face..
Then down the road you got a few wrinkles?
I am in the business of cosmetics... not structure.


What would you do? and do you have anything in your contracts detailing caulking?


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

House sat for three years, and was probably cold to the bone.
New people move you, you caulk, and they heat the house.
I say major expansion/contraction caused the separation due to new temperatures the structure is experiencing.

Highly doubt it has anything to do with moisture.

I wouldn't do anything for free. Nothing you did caused the caulk to separate. The only "if" is if you had let them acclimate the house before painting it. but I probably wouldn't have thought to do that either.


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## Richard (May 21, 2006)

Yeah, I like what PWG said. I _personally_ was thinking about what I would do. I might explain the expanding/contracting thing to them, offer to caulk and paint everything at half cost. If it happens again, it may not be a bad idea to move away, lol

...they are good friends, lets keep it that way, right?

ps-I might change caulk too :thumbsup:


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## 4thGeneration (Nov 23, 2006)

I am not sure , but did you caulk after prime or after finish coats? I wonder if a latex based caulk over a oil primer would be a problem since it is a 25 year caulk it may be a less quality caulk? I do not know. Never thought about this. As far as climatizing the house. This could be a problem, but I was taught day one to make sure that a house is climatized before painting. When doing interior repaints for real estate agents that have empty homes they sell i ask them the preference of the homeowner moving in and explain the reason. That way i am not painting or caulking in a atmosphere that will be greatly fluctuated. Also, i always tell homeowners when touching up to make sure their paint stored in the garage is brought in to sit in the house for several hours before touching up so it does not end up lighter or darker that whats on the walls. The other thing with caulk is the dust factor from a dirty house or from sanding if it was not properly removed before caulking.


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

I would switch caulk to SW 1100A 55 year. Some good explanations above, but I have always found DAP to be runny and sub-par on top of what they said.


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## 4thGeneration (Nov 23, 2006)

I do not like dap very much, but the 25 year used is more runny than the 35 year dap.


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

I agree. You will tend to find the better caulks have less water content and are more thick and dry.


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

Paintguy26 said:


> Yeah, I like what PWG said. I _personally_ was thinking about what I would do. I might explain the expanding/contracting thing to them, offer to caulk and paint everything at half cost. If it happens again, it may not be a bad idea to move away, lol
> 
> ...they are good friends, lets keep it that way, right?
> 
> ps-I might change caulk too :thumbsup:


I agree with this as well and i would start using a 55yr caulk elostometric.


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## chris n (Oct 14, 2003)

*Mr*

I say major expansion/contraction caused the separation due to new temperatures the structure is experiencing.

This is true and need not be due to just sitting for a long time.In my own house this happens every winter and come late spring you would never know there was a problem,I used Duron (not sure the #of years,cause I'll be dead and gone by then anyway)


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## Joewho (Sep 20, 2006)

AAPaint said:


> I would switch caulk to SW 1100A 55 year. Some good explanations above, but I have always found DAP to be runny and sub-par on top of what they said.


I like 1100A too. It seems to be a more workable that other 55 yr. caulks.


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## 4thGeneration (Nov 23, 2006)

*Caulk antichrist*

I loaded for work this morning and when I arrived at the job I saw a talking point. I found a tube of DAP alex 25 year caulk. Now I do not remember buying that stuff so my question , AA did you slip some of this stuff into my truck trying to ruin me? :lol:


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

:laughing: Nope...wasn't me! I wouldn't buy it with your credit card! :thumbsup:


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## MarcP (Jan 29, 2007)

I'm a trim guy, and I see this problem all the time too, especially on crown moulding. It's very important to try and maintain a consistant humidity level in the house to keep the woodwork from "moving". I have quite a bit of custom trim in my own house, and I used a product called Big Strech to caulk eveything. Between maintaining humidity levels and using that caulk, I have had VERY MINOR separating in 2 years.


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## Joewho (Sep 20, 2006)

MarcP said:


> I'm a trim guy, and I see this problem all the time too, especially on crown moulding. It's very important to try and maintain a consistant humidity level in the house to keep the woodwork from "moving". I have quite a bit of custom trim in my own house, and I used a product called Big Strech to caulk eveything. Between maintaining humidity levels and using that caulk, I have had VERY MINOR separating in 2 years.


I'd much rather seal all sides of the wood than count on a customer to maintain humidity. This isn't usually a problem when good caulk is used and applied properly. Another reason I try to stay in touch with carpenters is to find out which wood is going to move around more than others. If I know it up front, I'll get really good caulk and make sure to finger it into every crack and crevice. Caulk laying on top of a void is nowhere near as stable as caulk that's been fingered.:w00t: Most mainline caulks will stretch, but they have to be stuck to the wood first.

The better the caulk, the harder it is to handle from a painting standpoint, where we want to make it look like a 90degree corner instead of a big old gob filling the corners. This makes the caulk disappear after paint and it leaves a line for cutting in colors.

AA mentioned 1100A, it's a good stretchy caulk but easy to manipulate for a 55 yr. caulk. The higher the years, the dryer the caulk is, usually. The 25 yr caulks are more moist and creamy, they stick easily and manipulate easily, but it's 25 yr. caulk.

Just spouting forth some caulk thoughts.


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