Same-day finish. No tarps overnight. The detail that decides if a window job lasts 10 years or 40.
Caulk lasts 8 years. Properly detailed liquid-applied flashing lasts 30+. Most LA leak calls trace back to that gap.
When a window starts leaking five years after install, it's almost never the window. It's the seal between the window and the wall — and nine times out of ten, that seal was a bead of exterior caulk doing a job a real flashing system was supposed to do. Caulk shrinks. Stucco moves. UV breaks the bond. By year eight, there's a hairline gap behind the trim that funnels every winter storm straight into the framing.
The water doesn't show up on your wall. It runs down the back of the sheathing, soaks the bottom plate, and rots the rough sill from the inside. By the time paint bubbles in the living room, you've already lost the framing under that window. We've opened up enough rotted sills in Mar Vista, Highland Park, and Eagle Rock to know the pattern: the original installer caulked over the weep holes, skipped the sill pan, and the homeowner never knew until the drywall started staining.
Proper weatherproofing is layered: liquid-applied flashing (Prosoco R-Guard) at the rough opening, butyl tape (Grace Vycor Plus) at the sill, backer rod and a polyurethane sealant (Sika or Tremco) at the perimeter joint, and only then a finish bead of exterior-grade caulk on top. Each layer assumes the one above it will fail eventually. That's the spec. That's why it lasts.
Standalone refresh on existing windows, or rolled into an install. All-in pricing — labor, materials, disposal.
If your windows are under ten years old, the original install was done right, and you're seeing hairline cracks in the exterior caulk on the south or west elevation, that's a refresh job. Cut out the old bead, prime, backer rod where needed, run a new sealant line. Half a day, no surprises, and you buy another decade.
If you're seeing any of these — moisture stains on interior drywall below a window, soft trim wood when you push on it, paint bubbling on the exterior sill, dark streaks down stucco below a window head — caulk won't fix the problem. The water is already past the surface. A full rebuild pulls the trim back to the rough opening, dries out the framing (or replaces it if rot is structural), and re-flashes the whole assembly with R-Guard and Vycor.
The middle case — windows 12 to 20 years old, no visible leaks but original install quality unknown — is the call we make on-site. We pull a corner of trim, inspect the original flashing, and tell you straight: refresh holds, or it doesn't. About 40% of mid-age homes we open up need at least a partial rebuild.
Every one of these has shown up on a leak inspection in the last 90 days. Every one is avoidable at install.
Standalone weatherproofing jobs run a single visit. Every step is photographed and signed off.
"Had a leak above the kitchen window every January for three winters. Two contractors caulked it and it came back. Red Stag pulled the trim, found rotted sheathing under the sill, and rebuilt the whole opening with R-Guard. Two winters dry now."
"Bought a 1962 ranch in Eagle Rock. The inspection flagged 'aging exterior caulk' on every window. Got three quotes — Red Stag was the only one who actually opened a corner before bidding. Turns out half needed full rebuild, half were fine. They priced each one separately. Saved us about $4,000."
"Theo found rot behind the master bedroom window I didn't know about. The original installer had caulked the weep holes shut in 2009. We replaced framing on two openings, re-flashed everything. Photo log is the most thorough documentation I've ever gotten from a contractor."
Same crew, same trucks, same 45-minute drive if a joint lets go in 2031.
LA's mild climate creates a specific weatherproofing problem that's counterintuitive: because it rarely rains hard and for sustained periods, moisture infiltration when it does rain is catastrophic to buildings that weren't designed for it. A New England home is built to drain and dry repeatedly over decades. A 1950s LA stucco-and-wood-frame home was built assuming modest weather exposure — and in the wet years (2023, 2024) it shows.
Where LA homes fail weatherproofing. The failure points are predictable: window and door perimeter caulking that's been painted over repeatedly and has lost elasticity; sill pan drainage that was never installed or has since clogged; window frame-to-stucco joints that have cracked from thermal movement; deck-to-wall flashing that wasn't detailed for the water volumes of an El Niño year. We see the same failures across thousands of inspections — they're not random.
The sealing scope. A weatherproofing inspection and seal includes: removing existing perimeter caulk to the substrate, assessing whether the substrate is sound, installing backer rod and ASTM C-920 sealant rated for the UV and thermal movement of each joint, and — where existing drainage details are missing or failed — retrofitting a minimal drainage plane at critical transitions. On a typical 1,800 sq ft LA home, a thorough weatherproofing scope runs 1–2 days.
Product selection matters. We use sealant products specified for the substrate and exposure: silicone for glass-to-frame joints (high UV, needs to stay flexible), polyurethane for stucco-to-frame joints (paintable, high adhesion), and butyl for flashing laps where fuel-compatibility with the membrane is required. Using the wrong sealant in the wrong location — a contractor default that's very common — creates adhesion failures that look fine for two years and then open up.
Free inspection. Refresh-vs-rebuild call on the spot. Most jobs finished in a single day, lifetime workmanship warranty included.
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