Which exterior caulk before painting

[kansascats]

I am going to have the entire exterior of the house painted. I want to use a quality caulk.

I had a handyman repair a section or water damaged siding and he just used DAP alex painters and suggested the paint is the key. Well.. one of the areas he repaired is where there was no flashing, the caulk failed, and water got up under the siding and garage door top trim. Siding, sheathing, outside header, and sandwich board destroyed.

I want the the painter and myself to use a quality caulk most appropriate for siding butt joints, siding to trim joints, siding to soffit, around fascia, etc.

Water tooling and clean-up would be a plus.

One painted said he uses siliconized acrylic (he had a tube of SW

950A).

I've heard good things about DAP ALEX ultra 230 and GE Groov

[Norminn]

No flashing? Explain.

Must have been a while to destroy siding. May not have been the caulk that failed, but the caulker. If the wood was damp, painted too soon, or the caulk applied too thickly, it would not cure properly

I don't think the brand that important, although many would argue. I pick the caulk for the type of application and have used DAP and GE many times. If there are wide gaps to caulk, then backer rod is important to support the caulk.

[kansascats]

re: flashing

the siding came down, and bottomed out on the garage door trim. When the caulk failed, water seeped under that siding into the sheathing and header. When we repaired, we slipped flashing behind that siding. That should help "some", albeit with masonite siding (aka sponge), it can still do a lot of damage if it gets past the caulk.

I have to believe there is better caulk than basic acrylic latex (dap alex painters). I'm hearing the siliconized or dap ultra 230, or ge groov, or big stretch, or white lightning, or SW 950A is an improvement. I don't mind spending $4 or $5 a tube if I know it's going to add value to the $1 stuff. But if I'm going to do that, I want to chose one that truly adds value and not just marketing hype.

[aemeijers]

If siding is hard against the right angle of the flashing, no caulk is gonna help for long. Brick mold (I presume) over garage door should be capped with Z-flashing, and siding held above the flat surface. Ideally, flashing should be installed so it slopes ever-so-slightly forward, ie the angle is over 90 degrees, so water won't pond in there. Easy to say, hard to do, I know.

I presume you at least primed all the siding edges?

[HerHusband]

The best caulking I have used is "PL Premium". You can find it at most home centers. Expensive, but worth it.