Caulking Windows for Dummies

Not a storm window

 Few of the freelancers who get nominated for the DotD are more irritating to the staffers than the ones who claim to have "researched" their topic and provide references to... show their work... yet clearly did not read the stuff they claim to have used. That's what tripped up today's nominee, John Rose, in his SFGate.com post, "How to Recaulk a Storm Window on a House With Vinyl Siding." All the staffer who turned this one up needed was to spend about thirty seconds to find what Rose missed and another thirty to find the information in his claimed "reference."

Rose did a quick copy-reword-paste job on a general reference for using caulk, skillfully rewording content the English major didn't quite understand with the apparent assumption that recaulking a storm window is the same procedure as recaulking a bathtub.

It's not.

John made his most egregious booboo when he instructed his readers to,

"Spread a bead of caulk across all openings around the window. "

Ummm, John? You caulk the top and sides of a window to prevent moisture penetration. The bottom, however, you leave open to allow condensation to escape instead of pooling on top of the caulk. If you don't do that, to quote your own introduction,

"This usually results in rotting of the wood underneath, since it is not easily able to dry properly."

Uhhh, yeah. And what's interesting is that the reference you claimed to have used very clearly states, and we quote,

"Leave the bottom open to allow moisture a way out. "

Oops. We guess that's why you're the proud (or not) recipient of a Dumbass of the Day award...

DDIY - WINDOWS