Rained before I got nail holes caulked - WWYD?

13 years ago

We just finished trimming out the porch (bottom of dropped beam) with PVC boards, have small finish nail holes on inside of porch, and in soffit area, plus 1 end of porch where there is no soffit (and a big drop, I have to hang over the railing to get to it but it's not visible to neighbors or anyone so don't care too much about that end). Don't know how wet the soffit (fascia?) area got last night, sudden T-storm and then just heavy dew.

Can I caulk this AM? Wait til noon (might rain again)? Blow out holes with compressed air (have a can and straw used for computer) first? I don't want the nails to rust through the caulk like they have done (in 1 month) on the skirtboard.

The screw holes from attaching the PVC to the sides of the carrying beam were filled (and used coated exterior screws, hidden under J channel) when they went up, these are just finish nails (couldn't find SS) from shooting the underside into the blocking and the bottom edge of the side boards.

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Comments (10)

kudzu9
13 years ago
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but any time you use a finish nail on the exterior, you are likely to get bleed through of the rust over time. You don't need to use stainless nails, though. That is what galvanized nails are for. I once had an incompetent carpenter use exterior nails to mount new siding, and I had to use a nail punch to drive the nails through the boards so I could remove the siding, remove the nails, and re-side with larger diameter galvanized nails.
2ajsmama
Original Author
13 years ago
hmm, he took the nails with him (I don't have a nail gun), they were Senco, they might have been galvanized? I don't know what he used on skirtboard last month, those might eventually need to be pulled off and put on with SS or coated screws.

I just caulked the porch side (using a veterinary syringe), since I have these finish nails, not going to punch them through now, do you think they've dried enough (no rain today, hot - almost too hot to caulk since surface is supposed to be
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brickeyee
13 years ago
"You don't need to use stainless nails, though. That is what galvanized nails are for."

The problem with galvanized exterior finish nails is that setting them routinely cretes a defect in the galvanize, just where it is needed most.

Stainless are not htat much more expensive and have a much lower potential for rust staining.

At this point, just let the surface dry out and then caulk the holes.
2ajsmama
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, I hope they were galvanized - didn't set them since they were put in with a compressor and nail gun. I did caulk around dinner time last night after all day of sun.

Now I've got to dig out the old caulk/adhesive (Phenoseal) and recaulk the porch skirt using hopefully better (Duo-Sil) caulk. Those were different nails (bought new package for top of porch). Should I seal nail heads with shellac before recaulking?
kudzu9
13 years ago
brickeyee-
I wasn't suggesting she countersink galvanized...
brickeyee
13 years ago
"I wasn't suggesting she countersink galvanized..."

Going to be a pretty ugly siding job with nail heads showing.
kudzu9
13 years ago
brickeyee-
I don't know where you live, but it's done here (Pacific NW) with a wide variety of materials. And, while I appreciate the content of many of your posts, you seem to have a real need to get the last word.

In any case, I'm done here...
brickeyee
13 years ago
Good for you.
andrelaplume2
13 years ago
HA! (good one!)
2ajsmama
Original Author
13 years ago
Still wondering if shellac on nail/screw heads on the porch skirt would help, if I go to the trouble of digging out the old caulk and replacing it. TIA

Rained before I got nail holes caulked - WWYD?

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kudzu9

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Rained before I got nail holes caulked - WWYD?

Comments (10)

kudzu9

2ajsmamaOriginal Author

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brickeyee

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