I’m caulking some exterior trim and bought some PL Polyurethane for the job since the DAP Latex shrinks way too much and I need something paintable. The caulk seems flexible enough on the end of the wire I used to break the seal but it takes two hands to squeeze the handle to get any to come out. I tried my pneumatic caulk gun at max pressure (70 PSI) and that barely makes any come out either.
This can’t be normal. Does this stuff have a shelf life (really short)?? By the way, it’s in the 70s today.
Any other brand of polyurethane that flows better?
Thanks.
Steve.
Replies
yur caulk is too cold....
OSI would be plan "B"....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Take it back to the store with that story. They should dig out some fresh stock for you
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I have had the same experience with PL.
I was turned on to BigStretch by a paint contractor friend. He is a big enough concern, that a dap rep came by when he complained of the cracking and shrinking of there product.
Just throwing it out there. I love the stuff .
use Vulcum..
puts everybody else to shame...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I use " Vulkem".
I hope you use the same - I hope that was a typo.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
yup and yup..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'll see if its available here in TX. Thanks!
OK, so I Googled Vulkem and found 28 Vulkem products. I did dig a little deeper and found that only 8 are sealants. Which one(s) do you use?
He uses Vulkum.Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
one part poly..
black and gold tube... 116 comes to mind but don't quote that..
didn't have a tube on hand to get the numbers off of..
and it is spelt with an E and not a U...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
thx - I'll check it out!
The black and gold tube is Vulkem 116.
If you're at a Menard's store, it won't be stocked with the row upon row of caulk products in paint section...instead its over with the hydraulic cement supply area.
Thanks to IMERC, I've grown addicted to this stuff and at ~$7 bucks a tube, it's gotten almost ridiculous how many places I now find to use this stuff.
But its a bear to use if (1) its cold (keep it in warm environment if ya can or do the Marty trick and "put a sock around it" to keep it warm) and (2) use a GOOD caulking gun as I blew out a tube when had it in a cheapo caulk gun at pal's house once...
Still haven't found a good clean up METHOD for my hands when using this stuff. End up using my fingers to dress the joint sometimes (when necessary), and then wiping off all excess on newspaper, and scrubbing my fingers with scotchbrite pad and hot water/soap afterwards.
DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
invisable glove fer yer hands and paint thinner to clean and wet yur finger to tool....
7$ is out of line.. but that may be Minards....
$4.03 wholesale....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Wholesale?
What's that?
"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
you know how I feel about retail....
polishin' the art all the time...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
that stuff useta be 70$ fer a case of 30....
now that was wholesale..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
So you buy it at half the price of everyone else, and you're still thinking of when it was cheaper?
LOL
"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
oh SURE............NOW YA TELL ME! ROAR!
(OK OK, tks - really!)
as to wholesale: "what HECK said"!!!!DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
just think of the entertainment value...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 4/26/2006 10:52 am by IMERC
is wholesale a new concept...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
well wish I could somehow qualify for wholesale pricing... (oh well)
and...happy to provide a little entertainment value! If hartmann saw my work clothes after working with tube after tube of vulkem, he'd know I don't mainline nor sniff it - more like I look like I been rolling in the stuff!
(BTW, had great success with the hydraulic cement and the window project(s) are now complete. ) DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
"Thanks to IMERC, I've grown addicted to this stuff"You mainline it or do you sniff it?
Try Geocel 2300, it is paintable, has elasticity with memory, will stick to itself, and has a 50 year servicalbe lifetime.
Gotta back you up on the Geocel.Good stuff.Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
I think you got an old tube. I use PL caulk, and it comes out just fine.
zak
zak
"so it goes"
The last PL poly caulk I used was also very stiff. I had the feeling that I'd have to have a grip like Popeye (when he squeezed the cans of spinach and they burst open and the spinach went into his mouth) to get it out of the tube. I got enough out to do whatever it was I was caulking, but not easy.
There are a heck of a lot of other choices between Dap latex and PL poly. If you can't get caulk to flow out of the tube it isn't going to "tool" very well or adhere very well.
I see the last stuff I used (have a partial tube) was Dap premium, but can't remember what we used when we did the last full caulking job about 15 years ago.
buy whitelightening w/ silicone at home depot a case is under 20 dollars. best caulk for the money and it doesnt smell bad either.
I use Vulcum, too. But i recently found that the sanded version I'd been using tends to pull apart if the fillet is more than about 1/8th inch.
So now I'm back to the smooth texture which has always been reliable.
I assume you know, it helps to keep your caulking somewhat warm.
When cold, most of the good caulkings are pretty stiff.
I had that problem with some other poly caulk - read on the lable "polyurethane caulk must be used within a year of manufacture"...I forget the particular brand....
second time I went back to the yard, I cut open three more before I found one that worked....
if it is in the 70's then for sure your caulking is older than a three-dollar bill. It is very common for them to sell you old stuff...lot's of times they have it on sale when it gets to be too old....when i installed windows we would use clearance caulk for caulking behind the aluminum trim pieces because it didn't need to be a nice bead....it also helped that we had caulking guns made by Cox...English made.
Try Benjamin Moore elstomeric caulk it has great flex for exterior easy tooling with a damp rag and paintable.
Based on the answers I got I went back to Home Depot and got a couple more tubes of the PL Polyurethane (from the unopened box behind the one in front) and it worked fine. Murphy's Law strikes again.Thanks all.
Steve.
Now, my answer here depends on whether or not you want to take the tube back to the store for a fresh one. If you want to save the trip back , take the tube out of the gun and cut the end off with your utility knife and scoop it out with a spatula. Personally, I'd take it back and get a fresh tube.
I had the same experience a few years ago and then went back to the same place to buy some more and it came out much easier. I came to the conclusion that the first batch I bought was old.
Old caulk raises the question of whether there are "use by" or "manufactured on" dates on the tube. If not, there should be.But if they do exist, how long is a tube good for, assuming it hasn't been exposed to freezing?
There likely is at least a lot number stamped on the "follower" or whatever they call it that the gun piston presses on.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison