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Warning: cheap caulk around windows will ruin your paint job in 3 months flat
I stopped by a duplex I manage in Phoenix last week to check on some peeling paint around the windows. The previous tenant had tried to seal gaps with that dollar store caulk that costs like $2 a tube. After just three months of summer heat it turned yellow and cracked everywhere. The paint started bubbling up and peeling off in strips because the caulk never bonded right to the vinyl frames. Now I'm stuck scraping it all off and redoing the whole trim on Saturday. Has anyone else had luck with a specific brand that actually holds up in extreme heat?
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oscarb772d agoTop Commenter
Wait, dollar store caulk on a Phoenix window? Man, that's like using paper towels to fix a leaky pipe in July. I tried a tube of that stuff once on a basement window and it looked like playdough melting in the sun. You gotta get the good silicone stuff, the 100% silicone stuff for exterior use, even if it's like $8 a tube. The cheap acrylic stuff just cooks and cracks in that heat, and then your paint has zero chance.
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elliotadams2d ago
Used to swear by the cheap stuff for everything, thought it was all the same goo in different tubes. But after seeing what happens in my own garage windows after one summer, yeah you're totally right about the acrylic stuff just giving up immediately. Got talked into the 100% silicone for a rental property and it's been holding up fine through two summers now, hard to argue with that track record.
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