Dear Springtime -- why didn't I think of that? Usually I'm on the internet for HOURS searching for the most inane nonsense, so I can't believe I haven't googled this -- although with all the stuff in the news about google and their use of people's private info, I've been using Yahoo. I guess I'll yahoo it! Thanks for turning the light bulb on over my head . . . .

We're replanking an older deck that was originally nailed. Quite a few nails have popped over the years; these spots were refastened with screws. I expect those holes to show some dry rot. The new planks and screw spacing will be shifted to miss the original nail holes. Question: Is it sufficient to fill the old nail holes with caulking compound? New decking will be 2x6 common redwood.

My old deck comes off tomorrow and the new goes back in 2 weeks after I add some wiring and repair any damage. But I'm wondering if I should fill in the old nail holes on the top edge of the joists first. Won't water wick under the new boards and collect in many of these holes, leading to potential problems? I've heard some recommend lining all the tops of the joists with butyl tape, but my idea is cheaper and easier. I'm wondering if not a good preventive measure to shoot a dab of polyurethane caulk into each nail hole before the new boards go down. Whole job would take 20 min. Or any reason this is a bad idea?

Caulk is for gaps, not holes. Yes, people use it for filling holes but that is not what it is for. You want the holes to disappear forever and you will never accomplish this by using caulk because the caulk goes into the hole so you end up with a half-filled hole and if you put too much caulk on, which most DIY'ers do, then you will have globs of caulk that you can't sand off because caulk doesn't sand off. I use drywall mud and I overfill the hole by just a small amount to account for shrinkage and then sand it flush. I use the Plus 3 because it's very easy to sand. If you use general purpose or vinyl spackle, this will be harder to sand. Another good product to use is 3M's patch plus primer. I don't really know if there is primer in the patching compound, but this is a good product to use if you don't want to worry about nail holes flashing through and you only want to apply one coat of finish. I always do two coats though on new trim for the build. Also, Sherwin Williams has some shrink free spackling that works well. Stay away from Red Devil spackling because it is vinyl based and does not sand well at all.