On 9/8/2011 3:23 PM, kansascats wrote:
I am going to have the entire exterior of the house painted. I want
to use a quality caulk.

I had a handyman repair a section or water damaged siding and he just
used DAP alex painters and suggested the paint is the key. Well..
one of the areas he repaired is where there was no flashing, the caulk

No flashing? Explain.

failed, and water got up under the siding and garage door top trim.
Siding, sheathing, outside header, and sandwich board destroyed.

Must have been a while to destroy siding. May not have been the caulk
that failed, but the caulker. If the wood was damp, painted too soon,
or the caulk applied too thickly, it would not cure properly

I want the the painter and myself to use a quality caulk most
appropriate for siding butt joints, siding to trim joints, siding to
soffit, around fascia, etc.

Water tooling and clean-up would be a plus.

One painted said he uses siliconized acrylic (he had a tube of SW
950A).

I've heard good things about DAP ALEX ultra 230 and GE Groov

I don't think the brand that important, although many would argue. I
pick the caulk for the type of application and have used DAP and GE many
times. If there are wide gaps to caulk, then backer rod is important to
support the caulk.

flashing

the siding came down, and bottomed out on the garage door trim. When
the caulk failed, water seeped under that siding into the sheathing
and header. When we repaired, we slipped flashing behind that
siding. That should help "some", albeit with masonite siding (aka
sponge), it can still do a lot of damage if it gets past the caulk.

I have to believe there is better caulk than basic acrylic latex (dap
alex painters). I'm hearing the siliconized or dap ultra 230, or ge
groov, or big stretch, or white lightning, or SW 950A is an
improvement. I don't mind spending $4 or $5 a tube if I know it's
going to add value to the $1 stuff. But if I'm going to do that, I
want to chose one that truly adds value and not just marketing hype.

On 9/8/2011 6:39 PM, kansascats wrote:
flashing

the siding came down, and bottomed out on the garage door trim. When
the caulk failed, water seeped under that siding into the sheathing
and header. When we repaired, we slipped flashing behind that
siding. That should help "some", albeit with masonite siding (aka
sponge), it can still do a lot of damage if it gets past the caulk.

I have to believe there is better caulk than basic acrylic latex (dap
alex painters). I'm hearing the siliconized or dap ultra 230, or ge
groov, or big stretch, or white lightning, or SW 950A is an
improvement. I don't mind spending $4 or $5 a tube if I know it's
going to add value to the $1 stuff. But if I'm going to do that, I
want to chose one that truly adds value and not just marketing hype.

If siding is hard against the right angle of the flashing, no caulk is
gonna help for long. Brick mold (I presume) over garage door should be
capped with Z-flashing, and siding held above the flat surface. Ideally,
flashing should be installed so it slopes ever-so-slightly forward, ie
the angle is over 90 degrees, so water won't pond in there. Easy to say,
hard to do, I know.

I presume you at least primed all the siding edges?

--
aem sends...