Sealing gaps in exterior structure with caulk or ?

[2k4s]

the pressure valve is a great idea that i wouldn't have thought of

it's quite time consuming. after a couple of hours i've only done a small corner of the inside of the garage. working my way along the top right now.

i'm also quite sloppy with the caulk. I need to get my act together before I start caulking the outside or it's going to look like dog's dinner.

do i need to caulk all of the interior vertical studs too (the ones that the OSB siding is nailed onto)?

and how about the seams in the roof sheathing where they butt up against one another? it seems like those would be already covered by the paper and shingles?

[Soundman2020]

the pressure valve is a great idea that i wouldn't have thought of

Aren't you glad you paid all that money, to have such great advice from us?

OK, I managed to get a shot of my setup, for what it's worth:

caulking-gun-setup-SML-ENH.jpg

You can see the valve knob sticking out just next to the gauge. This has turned out to be great, as you can get very fine tuning of the bead by adjusting the pressure, and it's easy to make sure you get the same bead the next time, by just noting down what pressure you used! Different caulks and different applications need different pressures. It's a great time saver, and helps to get the job done much neater, and faster., and with less waste.

it's quite time consuming.

Yup! Welcome to the world of studio construction! Things will ALWAYS take much longer, cost much more, and be far more complicated than you ever imagined, even in your wildest, most terrifying nightmares...

i'm also quite sloppy with the caulk.

It takes a while to get the hang of it, if you are just doing it for the first time. There are some useful tolls that you can by to help clean up the caulk bead, if you really want to, put a finger dipped in water does a pretty darn good job too, and is much cheaper! (As long as you don't mind digging caulk out of your fingernails for a while, after you finish....)

do i need to caulk all of the interior vertical studs too (the ones that the OSB siding is nailed onto)?

Here's my philosophy about caulking: if there is an obvious hole, gap or crack, then caulk the hell out of it, with high pressure to force the caulk deep. If it just looks like ot might be a crack, or gap, but you aren't sure, then caulk it anyway. And if you look at it carefully, and you are absolutely certain that there is no gap, hole or crack, then caulk that too, because you never know....

and how about the seams in the roof sheathing where they butt up against one another? it seems like those would be already covered by the paper and shingles?

Whooaaaa!!! What exactly are you calking up there? Is your roof deck supposed to be ventilated? If so, then it cannot be your outer leaf....

- Stuart -

[2k4s]

I've been using the finger in water method so far but lots of waste and a bit sloppy. I'll definitely be cleaning up more when i caulk the outside.

the ceiling has plywood with silver radiant heat barrier or whatever it's called. yes it is supposed to be ventilated i'm sure but i thought that was what the roof vents are for (which i intend to make baffles for.)

where those sheets of reflective coated plywood on the ceiling butt up against each other, I was wondering if I need to caulk those gaps too. there is roof paper and asphalt shingles on the roof?

nice visual on the gun and valve. now i know exactly what I need. thanks

I'll take some photos of what I've done so far. just some electrical and caulking at this point. it's slow going doing everything for the first time.