Am I the only one who heard a contractor say 'just caulk it' and walked away?

I was at the lumber yard yesterday and overheard two guys talking about fixing a leaky window. One guy said 'just caulk it, that'll hold for a while.' I couldn't help but think about the last time I tried that on my own rental property in Austin. Ended up with mold behind the trim 4 months later and had to rip out the whole sill. Has anyone else had a quick fix turn into a bigger mess than the original problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

zaranelson15d ago

My buddy in Houston tried that on a bathroom window in 2022, and three months later the drywall underneath had turned to mush. Caulk is great for a quick patch but it just hides water damage instead of fixing where it's actually coming in. From what I've seen, you really have to pull off the trim and check the flashing or you're just asking for trouble down the road.

barbaradavis14d ago

Three months of mush sounds pretty extreme to me. I've seen plenty of windows caulked over problem areas and they held up fine for years without any rot behind them. Maybe the real issue is that Houston humidity or something specific to that window, not caulk itself being the devils tool.

wells.evan14d ago

Yeah, "turned to mush" is exactly what happens when people just seal the outside and don't think about what's behind it. But here's something nobody's bringing up: what if the leak isn't even from the window itself? I've seen two cases where water was running down the siding from a gutter joint a few feet above, then wicking under the window trim. Caulking the window frame just trapped that water against the house wrap instead of letting it drain. You end up chasing ghosts with a caulk gun while the real source is just sitting there laughing at you.