Exterior window caulk

Dibs, the caulking job you showed us is what homeowners do. Don’t get me wrong, i do that on my own house and if I did it on someone else’s house, it might be a $100 per window caulking job – but it is not done correctly. The big fear i have is that if you, who has really studied this stuff (maybe not the fine points of things – listen, i am a finish person, so i have to be worried about how it looks), does not realize what a $200 per window caulking job looks like, how can we expect others? it looks like you applied too much at one side and ran your finger through it on the other. am i correct?

I explained something here yesterday about how it is very important to understand the history of how we got here today and why i sometimes write so much. so let me explain:

The people who taught me to caulk used solid metal tubular caulking guns that looked sort of like grease guns with a lever handle like the modern things have. These guns came with five metal nozzles that were of different shapes and sizes. in the 1970’s there were old guys using these things a nd they chose the nozzle for the job by size and shape. they held that gun against the seam to be caulked and pressed firmly to be sure the caulk did not run out the sides but instead was force into the seam. they also watched to be sure caulk did not begin to run ahead of the job too much; if it did, too much pressure was being applied or they were moving the gun too slow; there is a “knack” to applying it. There was no running your finger back over it unless someone applied too much pressure. and none of these guys had plastic applicators that i see in the stores.

By 1980, most of the old caulking guns were hanging in garages as remnants of the past and all of us were using modern caulking with the plastic nozzle. Let’s talk about that nozzle: a pro begins with his narrowest seams and cuts that nozzle to width and applies the caulk under pressure, creating a uniform bead that is generally flat on top. if it is round, he did not press down on the applicator enough. Only when moving to the wider seams, does he cut the tube back further. in 1970’s and early ’80’s my boss would spend an afternoon caulking windows (and it was a while before he let me to them and when he did, only the ones less visible) and while he sometimes ran his finger through a spot he had trouble with, there was no such thing as a plastic applicator.

and by the way, it is not possible to achieve this kind of job against masonry.

The man who paid 200 per window should have been able to demand the kind of job i am describing above. unfortunately, we are too used to allowing people who know nothing about what they are doing and do not care to take the time to learn to dictate to us what a proper job is. back in the day, a true trades person told the customer what had to be and delivered; theses people still exist, their numbers have dwindled, but we can still find them. it is up to us to do so.

sorry to have used your caulking job as an example DIBS and i do that kind of work on my own home as well, but people should not be paying for it.