J Channel and Caulk everywhere

[MRancher]

We are completing a siding project and the installer is telling us the J Channel installation is correct everywhere - however it is different on different windows. Some have caulk all the way down the corners of the J Channel in the bottom corners. I think they did this because I said it looked like a shoddy job and that was their way of 'fixing' it. One has caulk completely sealing the bottom hole of the J Channel which looks to me like a receptacle for standing water. They also did a shoddy job cutting one corner post of the house. When I pointed it out, they just globbed caulk all over it. I thought water was supposed to be able to escape through the bottom, and now it looks like it will just fill up the whole corner and sit there for eternity.

I am worried about water damage - but I also want it to look nice. Mostly water damage concerns me, though.

This is the corner of the house, right at the bottom of the corner post. This is what the corner looked like before

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This is what it looks like now - shouldn't water be able to get out? All the other corners of the house are just open (and cut perfectly)

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This is the bottom edge of the window, completely caulked at the bottom (and on top, like the next picture)

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A handful of windows are caulked like this. Most are not. Why are these? Will this affect functionality?

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They just caulked all over this - cosmetic or functional issue?

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[Jim Baird]

...in a general sense I understand vinyl siding to be a draining kind of wall cladding installed over a WRB (weather resistant barrier).

Installation is according to manufacturer instruction.

[Marc]

Jim B touches upon the most important aspect of vinyl siding: Even when installed according to manufacturer spec, it's still likely to leak. That's why for vinyl, you need an underlayment that won't leak. I see you have asbestos tiles under that vinyl so that's helping to fill the need for a sealed underlayment except around the windows/doors. If your contractor didn't treat the windows/doors right before installing the vinyl then you may very well have a water intrusion issue in the future though it may be years before you actually become aware of it.

Did you happen to see how your contractor prepped the windows/doors before he installed the vinyl?

Marc

[MRancher]

Jim B touches upon the most important aspect of vinyl siding: Even when installed according to manufacturer spec, it's still likely to leak. That's why for vinyl, you need an underlayment that won't leak. I see you have asbestos tiles under that vinyl so that's helping to fill the need for a sealed underlayment except around the windows/doors. If your contractor didn't treat the windows/doors right before installing the vinyl then you may very well have a water intrusion issue in the future though it may be years before you actually become aware of it.

Did you happen to see how your contractor prepped the windows/doors before he installed the vinyl?

Marc

I didn't get a chance to see how they were prepped, but I will certainly asked. The house was built in '96 so I don't think they are asbestos tiles - the corner post pics are sitting on painted brick - does that change anything? I did see Tyvek paper stuck up before they put the siding up on some parts of the house, I just didn't get a chance to peek at the windows.

[Marc]

Jim B touches upon the most important aspect of vinyl siding: Even when installed according to manufacturer spec, it's still likely to leak. That's why for vinyl, you need an underlayment that won't leak. I see you have asbestos tiles under that vinyl so that's helping to fill the need for a sealed underlayment except around the windows/doors. If your contractor didn't treat the windows/doors right before installing the vinyl then you may very well have a water intrusion issue in the future though it may be years before you actually become aware of it.

Did you happen to see how your contractor prepped the windows/doors before he installed the vinyl?

Marc

I didn't get a chance to see how they were prepped, but I will certainly asked. The house was built in '96 so I don't think they are asbestos tiles - the corner post pics are sitting on painted brick - does that change anything? I did see Tyvek paper stuck up before they put the siding up on some parts of the house, I just didn't get a chance to peek at the windows.

I agree. It's not asbestos.

Marc