Thread: Caulk or something else? Photo

Is this gap too wide for caulk? Does it look to you as though there was caulk that got washed away? What do you advise?

Thanks.

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Katherine,

It is much better, and better for us as readers and viewers, to put each item pertaining to the roof in ONE POST instead of separating each item into a bunch of different posts.

You could list each item as:
a)
b)
c)
etc

Katherine,

You clearly have a lot of concerns with the work recently done to your home. Consider hiring the best roofing consultant in the area to see this place in person. Pictures can only show so much.

Originally Posted by Katherine Abernathy

Is this gap too wide for caulk? Does it look to you as though there was caulk that got washed away? What do you advise?

Thanks.

To answer your question directly.
Yes.

Most inspectors are afraid to answer unless in a complex round about and general manner in order to avoid getting sued. LOL

Is this gap too wide for caulk?

You need to know how much expansion and contraction will occur before determining the proper joint treatment. If the materials expand and contract greatly, a bigger gap may be necessary.

Poor workmanship. Looks to me like the board (Fascia) on the left of the pic. was cut a little too short and at a slightly different angle (should be 45 to match the other cut). The painters probably filled the gap with caulk but as the boards shrunk back the gap widened. Had the joint been glued and nailed together in the first place, the joint would have held tight and any gap would have been minimised. Looks like very typical sloppy tract home framing.

If it's reasonably accessible and not working 2 or 3 stories off a ladder, cut a slice of wood to match the existing, glue it with exterior construction adhesive and insert it into the gap (sand down if necessary) - fill any remaining gap with paintable caulk and paint. Or if hard to reach, fill the gap with backer rod, caulk and paint when dry.

ip

It looks like the all too typical poor capping job here in NC. The installer may have cut the capping too short, they may have run out of caulk on this joint, their ladder may have not reached to the peak so they could not see what they were doing, cheap caulk....and more. All in all it just needs repair!

A measurement might be more useful, up to 1/8" might fly, also nailing the ends would help.

Hope you got a good price.

I wood reccommend a wod gusset plate over this area and paint as needed, that is typical of good construction in cases like this.

Karen,
You can caulk gaps up to 3/8" inch with no problem, from what I see it appears you are about that, been doing it for decades w/ no problems.. gap behind is too deep it appears and should be first filled, you can use minimally expanding foam applied by someone who knows what they are doing, backer rod won't work since you can see there is nothing behind it to keep it in place. Alex Plus caulk is available at Lowes etc.. and does well and has silicone added to minimize the shrinkage. There are many more higher quality caulks w/ no shrinkage and you can apply in freezing weather but you have to do some research to find it as many places do not carry it.. bad thing is you could potentially have some marginal framing and minor movement do to the same in that area and I definately recommended a qualified professional evaluate all due to the marginal workmanship that is visible in your pic. Good Luck.

Katherine,

More like facia boards (long run and "green" at time of installation) have shrunk and pulled away. It's good to recommend re-cualk. More cosmetic than anything, since gutters & drip flashing above protect from rains saturation in exposed end grain of boards. Happy Thanksgiving!

What type of wood is it?

I think there is more than just a lack of caulking here. The angles were cut differently on these wood fascia boards. There is also the wood drip board missing on one side of the corner. This is clearly a defect in the method used at the time of construction and should be reported as such. The major problem as we all know is that rain water for the roof run off will drip off the shingles and saturate this corner until wood rot occurs. Applying caulking in this corner will be a temporary preventative repair. From an inspection perspective, I would make the buyer aware of a potential problem and recommend a further assessment by a licensed home builder.

James R. Barfield
Professional Real Estate Inspector
Licensed Texas Home Builder

Originally Posted by Daniel Mummey

Katherine,

More like facia boards (long run and "green" at time of installation) have shrunk and pulled away.

Originally Posted by Tim Allison

What type of wood is it?

It's obviously PVC, how long does it usually take for the PVC to dry?



Just kidding guys, she has said it was PVC in another thread.

As far as if the gap is to wide to caulk, it all depends on the painter, I once had a painter tell me "if you can step across it I can caulk it!

From what I understand about PVC "wood", if you don't glue the joints they are going to separate due to the excessive shrinkage and expansion of the product. I doubt that caulking will stay in the joint very long due to the movement.

Its a friggin trim board, it doesn't matter if there's a gap.

The rest of the house must have examples of poor workmanship. Looks like one 'applicator' did one side and another 'applicator' did the other.

Thank you.

Jerry, I can see the merit in your suggestion. Kind of unwieldy.

Here's why I would think the gap should be closed. The soffits are Hardie soffits. Hardie co. rep says they warp with moisture.

Here's another photo.

K.

Damn, I must be getting bling or blind or something!! I see something wrapped w/ coil stock!? What IDIOT wraps Hardi w/ coil stock? Caulk it and forget it unless your worried about the uneven gap that likely is NOTHING!! Some of these posts are just plain!!!!?????? Great job Mr. Home Inspector?? By the way, once again, contractor SUCKS!!

Originally Posted by Katherine Abernathy

Thank you.

Jerry, I can see the merit in your suggestion. Kind of unwieldy.

Here's why I would think the gap should be closed. The soffits are Hardie soffits. Hardie co. rep says they warp with moisture.

Here's another photo.

K.

Like I said on another roof thread of yours. Something is amiss.

Why is it that you are the only one that the link shows up to your picture and not just the picture.

You are calling reps for advise and going to a home inspectors board for answers to questions. Are you really Katherine or is your name possibly ......... I will let someone else call the name out.

Seems like very similar posts by ........

Questions asked just like .......

Are we creating a new program, video, do it yourself course or adding questions and answers to a class you are creating.

I noticed that the possible someone else popped in to one of your roof threads but other than that he had been vacant for a while but he did throw a plug in for a particular organization or association.

TED GETS THE COOKIE!!!!!! You go BOYEEE!!

Remember the Katherine, Sophie, Katherine "issue" question that was asked early on [by me in one of the "original" posts (before the unrelenting series of them?)].

Not more than a few days ago I was reading with one of the Grands a bedtime story. Bearnstein Bears. Was all about Pa Bear teaching Junior about how to ride a bike. Pa had to demonstrate, Junior kept asking to ride. Pa proceeded to do everything wrong. Basically do not as I do but as I say. Junior ended up riding Pa home all bandaged up after a series of catastrophies.

Katherine/Sophie/whomever, seems to have consulted everyone except the one he/she/whomever needs to.

Also strange that the materials self-identified seems to be ever-changing. Seems to be fixated on composition shingle being a fire hazard (multiple posts this is mentioned, hmmmm. Like someone from an arid prone fire-storm area perhaps???

Get the flippin roofing manufacturer's regional/field rep out and ON SITE, post-haste. That "chain" may have many links and be quite strong, but please, refrain from unnecessarily "yanking" it!

Wasting time on the internet, while the "clock is ticking". TICK TOCK!!! Eleven months and counting.

HG, I've been told by people at Certainteed that Certainteed reps are not available to go to people's houses and assess their roof jobs. That is not an available option.

Thank you, everybody, for the information and advice you have given me.

K.