Rant: Why does everyone caulk baseboards before nailing them in?

I was helping my brother finish his basement last weekend and he insisted on caulking everything before the trim was even secured. Doesn't that just guarantee you'll crack the bead when you drive the nail? How do you pros handle the order of operations without making a mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan90321d ago

My uncle used to caulk his trim joints before painting and then get mad when the paint peeled off. Drove me nuts watching him do that whole basement over again.

shanem3721d ago

Your brother's actually got it backwards. You definitely want to nail the trim first, then caulk the gaps after to keep that bead clean and uncracked.

umar5921d agoTop Commenter

Wait, your brother caulked BEFORE nailing?! That is WILD to me. @shanem37 is spot on here, you nail first every single time or you're just asking for cracked caulk everywhere. That bead has no chance if you hammer right through it like that.