I've never in my life had to caulk windows or doors. Surely it's simple but I have a question.

Do I want to use an outside caulk for the exterior of the windows, and an interior caulk for the inside, in the house, side?

I had all new windows, and a couple doors, installed about 8 years ago. In this last few weeks, when it got down to 3 and 6 degrees, some areas of the house were downright COLD! I have a big window in the master bath and I noticed the curtains were moving! Same with a few other windows and doors. An inspection revealed cracked and shrunk caulking.

I'm going to do this, just need a bit of advice.
Anything else I need to know besides what kind and type of caulk to buy?

And even further inspection reveals I'll need to caulk sinks, counter tops and shower, etc.

Thanks in advance.

You probably need some pics. There’s a difference between caulk and spackling depending on the job. Lots of variables here.

shrinkage....it happens. Especially when its super cold for a spell.
And 8 years out, yea, expect it.

If the gap is 1/4 or smaller, pheonseal is your buddy. interior or exterior, read the label, home despot has it, as any paint shop would...but maybe wait a bit for the temp to get above the desired application directions.(40d+ outside).

chase the bead with a moist paper towel for a nice clean finish..one thing a lot of folks don't do, which is matey import, is remove the old caulk...its a key to a good finish..

A bad caulk job is an eye sore.

Could be weather stripping too. Try and isolate where the air is coming in from. I would be most concerned with outside caulking in that water damage including wood rot can become a problem with failing caulk job and repair needs to be done right removing old failing caulk.

It really pisses me off that some of these installers do a crap job with caulking and they don't care because it will at least a few years before damage shows up.

Read directions carefully with any caulk especially about application and temperature and humidity which can drastically affect dry and cure times. You also want to make sure when caulking that caulk also gets into joint for seal and not just over it.

We're the windows properly installed? Insulated all around before trim was?

On movable sections of old windows, I use rope caulk to seal gaps and then throw it away when I open them in the spring. Those shrink-wrap kits also do a good job of adding an extra thermal barrier on larger windows and are cheap enough that they can be discarded.

quote:

Originally posted by bigmule:
shrinkage....it happens. Especially when its super cold for a spell.
And 8 years out, yea, expect it.

If the gap is 1/4 or smaller, pheonseal is your buddy. interior or exterior, read the label, home despot has it, as any paint shop would...but maybe wait a bit for the temp to get above the desired application directions.(40d+ outside).

chase the bead with a moist paper towel for a nice clean finish..one thing a lot of folks don't do, which is matey import, is remove the old caulk...its a key to a good finish..

A bad caulk job is an eye sore.

This all of it. Also when cutting open the caulk tube start small you’ll want an 1/8” opening to start. Also you can use the same caulk indoors but if you plan to paint it ensure the caulk is paintable. If your fighting colder temps outside and can’t get above 40 don’t be afraid to just caulk the inside for the time being.