Caulk for tile patio expansion joints
Hey guys.
I’m finishing up laying slate tile on my concrete patio. I left expansion joints in all the right places (hopefully) but now I don’t know what type of caulk to fill them with. It’s an outdoor patio in Oklahoma (pretty drastic temperature fluctuations) and I would like for it to last a good long time. I’ve read a lot of suggestions online from sanded color matching acrylic to tub and tile silicone. Just wondering what you guys would suggest. Thanks for the help.
Replies
are you looking for a clear caulk? colored is a different hunt. colored i'd go to the local metal roofing supplier end buy the color of urethane caulk i wanted. .just fillthe joint with caulk. so easy to say yet so hard to do. the art of caulking is that of filling the joint with none left over after smoothing out.(a perfect job requires no smoothing) about the best us humans can get is to try not use too much caulk and smooth it with an ice cube. sounds weird, try it!
We used sanded charcoal gray grout so I'm looking for a caulk in the dark gray ballpark. I'm not concerned with matching it exactly or even having a sanded texture. There are several types of caulk at HD and Lowes that match the color close enough. I just don't know if any of them will last.
Sanded grout?
If so, use a self leveling urethane caluk like SL1 and sprinkle sand over it. You use an old paint brush to "dust " the sand over the joints before it sets. Don't touch the caulk with the brush (more like you are "blessing "it). If colored other than gray, you can find two part urethanes with additive colorants.
This technique is used by most tuck pointing companies as well as concrete repair and cutting companies.
If your expansion joints are lined up with the control joints in the patio slab, you may need to use backer rod in the control joints and fill with the urethane caulk.
Dave