The Canadian climate is brutal on caulking – owing to severe contraction and expansion in different seasons. Here’s how to ensure your caulking doesn’t fail.

This tip comes from Steve Maxwell's article on exterior caulking in the upcoming print edition of PRO PAINTER magazine.

Too few contractors use backer rod and bond breaker tape when they do exterior caulking.

As Steve explains, backer rod prevents deep crevices from using up all your caulk - and allows you to keep the depth of the caulk no more than one-half of the width. This allows the caulk to expand and contract without failing.

Bond breaker tape goes in the bottom of the crack or crevice, so that you don't get a three surface bond with the caulk. Caulk doesn't expand and contract correctly if it bonds to the fixed surface at the bottom of the cavity, while the other two surfaces are expanding and contracting.

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