Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 02, 2000 02:58pm | #1

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   Sounds like oakum? I hope it isn't plumber's putty! And I doubt that putty would take paint, never tried!

   Jeff

2. 
   Roger_Martini | Jun 02, 2000 03:20pm | #2

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   Could be a paintable elastomeric caulk. That stuff stays mooshy for a good while.

1. 
   Lisa_W. | Jun 02, 2000 05:22pm | #3

   *I've never seen oakum, but I don't detect any fibers and it's a very light brown not black. I don't know what what elastomeric caulk looks like, does it stay mooshy for years? This stuff also seems oily. -Lisa

3. 
   Guest_ | Jun 03, 2000 12:14am | #4

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   Sounds like the stuff I give my cats for hairballs. One of them likes it and will lick it off my finger, and the other hates it and ya gotta smear it on his gums. Find two cats, and if one licks it and the other runs....that's the stuff. Maybe the one cat's been sneaking over your house and wiping it off around your windows? I'll ask him about it later. Jeff

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 03, 2000 02:01am | #5

   *Sounds like butyl rubber to me. Glass shops used to use it alot, and as far as I know it stays soft forever. Though most I've seen was gray. Kind of a pain to get off too. I could be wrong.Chuck

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 03, 2000 02:02am | #6

   *Sounds like butyl rubber to me. Glass shops used to use it alot, and as far as I know it stays soft forever. Though most I've seen was gray. Kind of a pain to get off too.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 03, 2000 03:58pm | #7

   *Sounds like "shoe goo" I use on my running shoes. There are similar materials, "plumbers goo and carpenters goo" so I would think it would be glasiers goo. Some polyuerethane and and other chemicals in a clear form that turns amber after a few years. Stuff smells real bad on the shoes after a while but there could be some other source for the smell. Skip

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 04, 2000 07:39am | #8

   *My thoughts as well. Butyl rubber caulk was common for gutters, since it never set and could deal with the expansion/contraction of the metal. Fairly tenacious stuff....

2. 
   Guest_ | Jun 04, 2000 08:07am | #9

   *Yes, butyl rubber makes sense. Usually used only for bedding compound, not exposed work. Cheap stuff, right?Jeff

4. 
   Lisa_Wintler-Cox | Jun 05, 2000 05:30am | #10

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   Thanks! Mystery solved! I think butyl rubber sounds very promising. It's basically sealing a juncture between the window the aluminum siding, from what you've said I could see them deciding to use it there. Now I just have to decide whether or not to continue to use it or not.

   P.S. Neither of my cats seemed to like the stuff, so I guess that rules out hairball medicine, though my husband seems to like it...
   -Lisa

5. 
   Lisa_Wintler-Cox | Jun 05, 2000 11:48am | #11

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   I'm stripping the paint on the front window and the edge where it
   meets the siding is caulked by something sticky and mooshy. It has
   probably been on there for years, but it's still wet like a stiff plastic goo
   with a light brown color. Could this be plumbers putty? Is this
   normal? (It was painted over so it takes paint)
   Enquiring minds want to know
   -Lisa

6. 
   Guest_ | Jun 05, 2000 11:48am | #12

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   Good ! Two problems solved. You know what the caulk is, and your husband will not be suffering any more hairballs.

   : )