Choosing a Caulk or Adhesive Gun: Models, Types, Advice
- CAULK GUN TYPES, CHOICES - Description of types of caulk or adhesive dispensing guns
- Trigger type manual caulk guns, durability, features, quality
- Battery operated power caulk guns
- Compressed air operated power caulk gun choices
- Caulks & sealants on buildings: joint design, silicones, polyurethane caulk, butyl caulk, acrylic latex caulk
- CAULKS_NONTOXIC - separate article
- CAULKS & SEALANTS, EXTERIOR - separate article, topic home
- CAULK & SEALANT CHOICES, products list - separate article
- Questions & Answers about types of caulk or adhesive or sealant guns or applicators - manual or powered caulk guns
- References
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Choices of caulking guns - a buyer's guide: this article describes different types of caulk guns, caulk gun features, and caulk gun models, giving some opinion and advice about choosing a caulk gun that fits your needs.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Choosing a Caulking Gun for Easy Fast Caulking Work & Good Results
This article series discusses best practices construction details for building exteriors, including water and air barriers, building flashing products & installation, wood siding material choices & installation, vinyl siding, stucco exteriors, building trim, exterior caulks and sealants, exterior building adhesives, and choices and application of exterior finishes on buildings: paints, stains.
Readers should see CAULKS & SEALANTS, EXTERIOR and also see GLUES ADHESIVES, EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION. Some caulks and sealants also act as glues or adhesives.
There is a stunning, actually an overwhelming array of types and qualities of caulk guns available.
3M, Albion, Apex-Cooper Hand Tools, GE, Newborn, Rigid, Z-Pro, and other companies produce or distribute hundreds of caulk guns and other items of caulking equipment. Contact information for these companies is listed at Resources for Building Exterior Caulks and Sealants. Here are some observations and opinions from DJF who, like many, has spent a lot of caulking time on construction projects:
- Stamped-steel caulk guns (first caulk gun at left in the group of four below) Watch out Most caulk gun producers offer durable heavy duty and good performing caulk guns, but for the "quick and dirty one-off job"
also offer homeowner-grade caulk guns made of stamped metal that we find, at least in some cases, do not last long. We call these "disposable" caulk guns.
With the least-costly grades of these caulk guns we find that very quickly the gun goes in the trash after a strong squeeze has bent the trigger handle, or the plunger mechanism keeps slipping rather than forcing caulk out of the cartridge or tube.
- Manual caulk guns, heavy duty models for homeowner and moderate construction use (second from left below): we much prefer the caulk cartridge type caulk gun shown in our photograph (above left and below, second from left)). This type of caulking gun has a strong steel body, cast iron handle, and a plunger mechanism that does not slip when pushing against a recalcitrant tube of caulk.
Like many models this caulk gun includes a wire to open the foil seal found in the tops of some caulk tubes and of course a cutter to snip off the caulk tube tip. The hooked caulk pushrod end forms a convenient ladder hook for the tool. Newborn produces a heavy duty professional NBC250 caulk gun of this type. A lighter version with an open cartridge body (third from left below) also performed acceptably but not as well as our preferred caulk gun.
- Bulk caulk guns, cartridge and sausage caulk guns are fast, and are designed to accept caulk bought in bulk, often in a collapsible plastic wrap or "sausage" (above right).
- Air powered caulk guns can pump very viscous caulks or adhesives at high speed and in large volumes. Models accept both cartridges and bulk or sausage packs of caulk. Our friend Mike Skok (Re Bath) uses a battery-operated air-powered caulk gun to dispense adhesive when installing plastic bath surrounds. Apex-Cooper Hand Tools' PG 100 Caulk Master (below at far right) is a professional-grade air-powered caulk and adhesive gun that is driven by an air compressor.
- Cordless Battery-powered caulk guns are really fast and low-effort, and with some practice, you can make very smooth caulk applications by learning to keep the caulk gun tip moving. Rigid makes an 18-volt cordless gun used for both caulks and adhesives and shown below, second from right.
Above left: caulk gun with extension rod for reaching. Second from left, 3-M caulk gun. Third from left, Rigid's batter operated power caulk gun. Above right, Apex-Cooper's air powered caulk gun.
Definitions of Caulking, Chalking, Spackling
Question: What's the Difference between caulking, chalking, and spackling?
I would like to know the difference between spackling and chalking and caulking and where each should be used. - A.C.
Reply:
Definition of Spackling: Spackling refers to use of joint compound to seal tape joints between sections of drywall or to smooth other irregularities in drywall before the wall or ceiling is painted. Spackling is also used on occasion as a superficial repair on plaster although repairing plaster with actual plaster may be preferred.
See Plaster & Beaverboard & Drywall for help in identifying these materials and a bit about their history. Also see
Watch out: don't rely on joint compound or spackling compound to seal building leaks where temperature changes, vibration, or anything else will cause movement of the building materials. Unlike flexible caulks that are designed to adhere to various types of surfaces and to tolerate small amounts of movement between the sealed surfaces, joint compound or spackling compound is designed for cosmetic repairs only, and it is likely to crack if installed where a flexible caulk should have been used indoors, and to weather and fail if used on an outdoor surface.
Definition of caulking: Caulks are sealants used to close gaps or cracks against leaks. The leak may be an air leak or a water leak in a building, or historically, in other structures such as a boat where in addition to hull leaks a boat often leaked at the connection of hull to boat deck. Caulk types and uses are discussed in more detail at CAULKS & SEALANTS, EXTERIOR. Types of caulk guns used to apply caulk are discussed above at CAULK GUN TYPES, CHOICES.
Before modern silicon, latex, or polyurethane caulks were invented boat leaks were sealed by hammering oakum, hemp or even cotton into the open gaps using a loggerhead.
Watch out: while it is often convenient to use caulk for cosmetic sealing of gaps and cracks indoors, such as along baseboard trim installed along uneven wall surfaces, be sure to use paintable caulk if the surfaces are intended to be painted. For example, some silicone caulks that perform very well as sealants also form a surface to which paint will not adhere.
Definition of chalking: Chalking is usually used to refer to the white oxidization that appears on some painted surfaces as they wear or weather, it's not something you'd do to drywall or plaster. Paint chalking is discussed at PAINT FAILURE DICTIONARY and at PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS, CURE, PREVENTION.
Chalking is sometimes used in some parts of the world to refer to steps to make surface more "white", and it is also used to refer to plowing chalk into soil as part of applying manure - a step that has nothing to do with building maintenance.
If you live in a country where any of these words are used with a different meaning please CONTACT us to let us know about it.
Resources for Building Exterior Caulks and Sealants
Construction Sealant (Caulks) Suppliers & Products
Albion, 1250 North Church Street, Moorestown, New Jersey 08057-1102 http://www.albioneng.com/, 856-235-6688
Chemrex www.chemrex.com
Newborn caulking guns, distributed by Jamestown JD Distributors - http://www.jamestowndistributors.com
Polyurethanes and other high-performance sealants
3M - 800-234-8068
Bostik - Chem-Calk urethane caulk - 414-774-2250
DAP
www.dap.com - 800-543-3840
Tremco - Velcum urethane caulk - 800-321-7906
Macklanburg-Duncan - Sika and Sikaflex caulks - 800-654-8454 (widely used in sealing concrete wall and floor slab cracks in the radon mitigation industry)
OSI Sealants
These sompanies produce urethane caulks used widely on masonry surfaces and in the automotive industry.
Acrylic latex caulks
Dow Corning Sealants
www.dowcorningsealants.com
Silicone sealants
GE Silicones
www.gesilicones.com
Silicone sealant
Geocel Corp
www.geocelusa.com
Acrylic latex, tripolymer, copolymer, Kraton, and clear
sealants
Macklanburg-Duncan
www.mdteam.com
Acrylic latex sealants
OSI Sealants Inc
www.osisealants.com
Polyseamseal PVA-based caulk. Pro Series includes latex,
polyurethane, and Kraton sealants.
www.phenoseal.com
Phenoseal vinyl adhesive caulk
Red Devil
www.reddevil.com
Acrylic, silicone, and butyl sealants
Sashco Sealants
www.sashco.com
Big Stretch and Mor-Flexx water-based sealants, Lexel
Kraton sealant
Sika Corp
www.sikaconstruction.com
Complete line of Sikaflex polyurethane-based sealants,
butyl sealant
Tremco Inc.
www.tremcosealants.com
High-performance, architectural-grade sealants,
UGL
www.ugl.com
Acrylic latex caulks
White Lightning
www.wlcaulk.com
Tripolymer, butyl, polyurethane, silicone, elastomeric, and
other high-performance sealants
Exterior Adhesives
Abatron
www.abatron.com
Epoxy, BestBond polyurethane glue
Ambel
www.excelglue.com
Excel polyurethane glue
Elmer’s Products
www.elmers.com
Yellow glues, ProBond polyurethane glue
Custom-Pak Adhesives
www.custompak.com
Resorcinol and yellow glues
DAP Inc.
www.dap.com
Weldwood contact cement, resorcinol, and construction
adhesives
Resources 49
Franklin International
www.titebond.com
Titebond yellow glue, Liquid Hide Glue, and construction
adhesives
Gloucester Co. Inc.
www.phenoseal.com
Phenoseal adhesive caulk
Gougeon Brothers
www.westsystem.com
West System epoxy
Gorilla Group
www.gorillaglue.com
Gorilla polyurethane glue
MACCO Adhesives
www.liquidnails.com
Liquid Nails construction adhesive
SI Sealants
www.osisealants.com
PL400 construction adhesive
System Three Resins
www.systemthree.com
Quick Cure epoxy
-- Adapted with permission from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction.
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- Steve Bliss's Building Advisor at buildingadvisor.com helps homeowners & contractors plan & complete successful building & remodeling projects: buying land, site work, building design, cost estimating, materials & components, & project management through complete construction. Email: info@buildingadvisor.com
Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com
- Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Amazon.com and also Wiley.com. See our book review of this publication.
- Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator. Mr. Cramer serves on the ASHI Home Inspection Standards. Contact Mark Cramer at: 727-595-4211 mark@BestTampaInspector.com
- John Cranor is an ASHI member and a home inspector (The House Whisperer) is located in Glen Allen, VA 23060. He is also a contributor to InspectApedia.com in several technical areas such as plumbing and appliances (dryer vents). Contact Mr. Cranor at 804-747-7747 or by Email: johncranor@verizon.net
Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
- Commercial Building Inspection Courses - protocol ASTM Standard E 2018-08 for Property Condition Assessments
- Home Inspection Education Courses including home study & live classes at eleven colleges & universities.
- Home Inspection Education Home Study Courses - ASHI@Home Training 10-course program.
Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on these courses: Enter INSPECTAHITP in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference Book, a reference & inspection report product for building owners & inspectors.
Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference eBook, an electronic version for PCs, the iPad, iPhone, & Android smart phones.
Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter inspectaehrb in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Illustrated Home illustrates construction details and building components, a reference for owners & inspectors.
Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Illustrated Home purchased as a single order Enter INSPECTAILL in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Horizon Software System manages business operations,scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images. The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones.
- Paul Galow - technical consultant on networking, LAN design, applications support. Galow Consulting Services, 914-204-1749, email: paulgalow@galowconsulting.com
- John Rudy, Advantage Home Inspections, Flemington N.J. 08822 home inspector, 908-806- 6364, Home, Radon & Termite Inspections, Central & Parts of North New Jersey, email: jonadvantage1@yahoo.com
- Malco® Products siding tools are available from that company, including the SideSwiper II SRT2 discussed at Malco's website. Websearch 09/07/2010 http://malcoproducts.com/product/roofing-siding-gutter/siding-vinyl/siding-tools-vinyl/sideswiper-ii. Malco also produces other vinyl siding repair tools such as aprons, awls, hole punches, saw blades, and tools for for fiber cement products including power-assisted cutters
- Parmetol, a wood preservative recommended by the manufacturer was used as a fungicidal additive to paint on the Blue Poplar wood sculpture in Amsterdam, by artist Mari Shields [ - art conservation consult DJF-artist MS 2010]
- "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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- Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Amazon.com and also Wiley.com. See our book review of this publication.
- Decks and Porches, the JLC Guide to, Best Practices for Outdoor Spaces, Steve Bliss (Editor), The Journal of Light Construction, Williston VT, 2010 ISBN 10: 1-928580-42-4, ISBN 13: 978-1-928580-42-3, available from Amazon.com
- The Journal of Light Construction has generously given reprint permission to InspectAPedia.com for this article. All rights and contents are ©Journal of Light Construction and may not be reproduced in any form.
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