What Should I Charge for Caulking? (2026 Contractor Pricing Guide)
Short answer
Most caulking contractors charge about $1.87 to $3.11 per linear foot to seal a new joint up to 1/2 inch wide, and about $3.59 to $5.99 per foot to cut out and replace failed exterior sealant, before any lift or swing stage. Labor is roughly 82% of the price; a 10.1 oz cartridge runs about 6 feet of a 1/2 x 1/2 inch bead.
Caulking calculator
Order
19
cartridges (10.1 oz cartridge)
Backer rod
5/8"
closed-cell, 110 ft
One package runs
6.1 ft
at 1/2" × 1/2", before waste
The math
- Bead per foot = 1/2" × 1/2" × 12" = 3 cu in
- Job = 100 ft × 3 cu in = 300 cu in
- Plus 10% waste (ground or ladder) = 330 cu in
- 330 ÷ 18.2 cu in per cartridge = 18.13 → 19, rounded up
- Backer rod = 1.25 × 1/2" = 0.625" → 5/8" stock size
Now price the job. Describe it in plain words and get a bid with cited starting prices that learn yours after 3 won jobs.
Price it freeCaulking unit prices by work item
Enter a ZIP code to adjust every row to local cost levels. Rates start from a national baseline of 1.00 and scale by the published city cost index for that area.
Showing national baseline rates.
| Work item | Unit | Material | Labor | What to charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seal new joint, up to 1/2 in wide Clean, primed substrate at ladder height; joint prep beyond a wipe is extra. | linear ft | $0.35 | $1.55 | $1.87 to $3.11 |
Cut out and recaulk exterior joint, up to 1/2 in Removal is most of the labor; hardened polyurethane cuts slower than silicone. | linear ft | $0.45 | $3.20 | $3.59 to $5.99 |
Facade expansion joint, 1/2 to 1 in, with backer rod Masking and primer on porous masonry push this to the top of the range. | linear ft | $1.10 | $4.60 | $5.60 to $9.33 |
Window or door perimeter recaulk About 18 linear feet for a standard 3x6 opening; storefronts run more. | opening | $6.00 | $38.00 | $40.42 to $75.08 |
Tub or shower recaulk (remove and reseal) Mold remediation behind the old bead is a separate line. | fixture | $8.00 | $70.00 | $71.76 to $133 |
Access: boom lift or swing stage, per day Equipment rental, delivery and setup; swing stages and taller lifts run higher. Its own line, never inside the per-foot rate. | day | $340 | $110 | $374 to $777 |
Material and labor columns are bare cost per unit before markup. The charge column applies +15% materials, +20% labor, then +10% overhead and profit, and shows a realistic range rather than one false-precision number.
How this number is built
There is no proprietary data feed here and nothing is hidden. Every figure above comes from four visible steps, which is exactly how your own price book should work:
- 1Start from bare material and bare labor cost per unit, at a national baseline.
- 2Multiply both by your local cost factor, from the ZIP table below.
- 3Add markup: 15% on materials, 20% on labor. This covers waste, procurement and supervision.
- 4Add 10% overhead and profit on the marked-up subtotal, then show a range rather than one number.
Regional cost factors
A national average is close to useless on its own. The same caulking job prices very differently across markets. These are the multipliers applied above, against a 1.00 national baseline.
| Metro | Factor | Seal new joint, up to 1/2 in wide (linear ft) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1.38x | $2.58 to $4.29 |
| New York, NY | 1.32x | $2.46 to $4.11 |
| Boston, MA | 1.24x | $2.31 to $3.86 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1.22x | $2.28 to $3.80 |
| Seattle, WA | 1.20x | $2.24 to $3.73 |
| Chicago, IL | 1.18x | $2.20 to $3.67 |
| Washington, DC | 1.15x | $2.15 to $3.58 |
| Denver, CO | 1.08x | $2.02 to $3.36 |
| Austin, TX | 1.04x | $1.94 to $3.24 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1.02x | $1.90 to $3.17 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1.00x | $1.87 to $3.11 |
| Houston, TX | 0.98x | $1.83 to $3.05 |
Before you send this number to a client
Worth doing
- Walk the actual site before committing to a fixed price.
- Itemize disposal, permits and prep as their own lines.
- Write down what is excluded, not only what is included.
- Compare these rates against your own last three invoices.
Where bids go wrong
- Using a national average as if it were a local quote.
- Forgetting that overhead is a real cost, not profit.
- Absorbing prep and access problems instead of pricing them.
- Quoting from memory when material prices moved.
Frequently asked questions
How many tubes of caulk do I need per linear foot?
Multiply joint width by depth by 12 to get cubic inches per foot, multiply by the footage, add 10% waste (15% from a lift), and divide by 18.2 cubic inches for a 10.1 oz cartridge or 36.1 for a 20 oz sausage. A 1/2 x 1/2 inch bead uses 3 cubic inches per foot, so one cartridge runs about 6 feet and 100 feet takes 19 cartridges with waste.
What size backer rod do I need?
Use closed-cell rod about 25% wider than the joint so it stays compressed: a 1/2 inch joint takes 5/8 inch rod, a 3/4 inch joint takes 1 inch rod. Joints 1/4 inch and narrower get bond-breaker tape instead of rod.
How deep should a sealant bead be?
A common rule (Tremco's joint design guidance) is a bead as deep as the joint is wide from 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and 1/2 inch deep for wider joints, never under 1/4 inch; some makers use half the width above 1/2 inch, so check your sealant's data sheet. A bead that is too deep wastes material and tears instead of stretching; one that is too thin has no body to stretch.
Should I price caulking per foot or per hour?
Per linear foot for runs and per opening or fixture for windows, doors and tubs, so the client compares like for like. Price lifts, swing stages and mobilization as their own lines; burying them in the per-foot rate is how facade jobs lose money.
Other trades
Turn these rates into a sent proposal
A table is a starting point. Describe the job in plain words and Takeoff Convert prices it with cited starting prices (government wage data for labor, live supplier prices for materials where it can find them) that learn your own as you win jobs, then produces an itemized proposal your client can e-sign.
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