I need advice on caulking old windows?

Question

Our widows are old. The caulk has all but disappeared. We're painting the house and noticed that they need to be re-caulked. Is there a right and wrong way to do this, or can we just start caulking the outside area of the window?

Answer 1

If you're speaking of the caulk between the house and the window frame, first remove all the old caulk.  I use one of those 3 in one tools (it's a heavy scraper, a roller cleaner and has a point on the one end) that I have my husband sharpen the blade on to make it easier for me.  It's a chore but necessary!  Buy yourself a good caulk gun and get one that you don't have to be constantly releasing the trigger on to stop putting pressure on the caulk and the caulk coming out.  Just re-caulking can reduce your heating and cooling bills significantly!  

Use a good quality caulk; you don't need the most expensive but don't go with the cheapie stuff or you will be redoing it again in a couple of years!  If you come across an area where the gap is more than 1/2 to 3/4", you might need to stuff in some filler material before caulking over.  Some caulks just don't cover large gaps well = no support for the caulk.  They make rope like seal stuff especially for that.

Allow the caulk to dry (check directions) before primer/painting.  

Now if you're speaking of the actual area between the window glass and the frame, that's glazing.  You can buy that in the hardware store in a tube or a tub.  You must remove all the old glazing first, wipe down the area to remove crumbs then apply the new compound according to the directions.  Allow to dry correctly before primer and paint.

Answer 2

Keep caulk away from moving parts of the window.  One rule is only to caulk areas where rain water may enter - tops and sides of things.  Don't caulk  undersides of parts.  If water should somehow enter into the sheathing, you don't want to seal it in.

Answer 3

It's not caulk, it's glazing on older windows which is like a putty they used to hold the glass in. You need to cut out the old stuff first and add the new.

Answer 4

i use a thing line of  100% silcone , real thin    ....

then i apply  white chalking over the top ..

  the first one  is leak proof, the second  is just painter caulking.... look better and can be painted  over

Answer 5

If you are talking about between the glass and frame, you will need to reglaze the window. Scrape out the old glazing (a six in one tool works great) and reglaze it.

If you are talking about between the frame and the house, strip out the old caulk and replace it with exterior grade caulk.