Hardiplank caulking

lmc

Hi, i the owner of a new construction home and want to paint my own house it has hardiplank lap siding i was told by my builder not to caulk under the lap but i talked to a painter and said it is common practice to do so i would appriciate any help ya'll can give. Thanks

Taipans

Your not suppose to caulk under the lap because it seals in moisture that might of gotten behind the siding. Someone else will chime in thats an expert on it I'm sure, but this is what I have learned about it personally.

AtlanticWBConst.

Do not caulk under the lap siding. You can caulk the seams, edges (window/door trim) & the butt corners. If you need to do those other areas, make sure that you use the right caulking for fiber-cement siding. I believe it's a Polyurethane based caulk.

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lmc

Thanks for the help it is really appreciated is there anything else i need to do to the hardiplank around windows besides caulk.

AtlanticWBConst.

There should not be anything else. Just make sure that you don't caulk any flashing. It too, needs to be able to drain any kind of moisture.

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troubleseeker

They are actually both telling you the truth. It is very common to see this seam caulked, but it should not be, because of moisture as stated by others.

We use a product called "Siloflex" to caulk both cement siding and PVC trim materials. We get it from the local vinyl siding/window distributor, as it is used for installation of vinyl replacement windows. It works very nicely and is paintable once cured.