Preferred brands of Chaulk

[Chefwong]

For those in the know....what chaulk brands/makes out there do you guys like or use ? Best mildew resistance, etc ?

Or something that's came to mind - ie, GE Silicone II . Both colors being either clear or white. They have one made for*door and windows* and another *for bathroom and kitchens* if I recall. Is this the Same EXACT stuff or different formulas.

For construction/exterior chaulk...I tend to like/use the PL stuff.
For mildew/wet areas, I've had decent luck with the Polyseamseal as the most mildew prone in my experiance

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

GE2 but if you have to watch for bad caulk sometimes; if the white or clear has a visible fluid associated with the caulk, pitch it....it will not harden.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chefwong]

Interesting......

I recall I was at the local HD and needed some silicone chaulk.....and was looking for specfically clear. The rep told me clear should be in stock but the white was recalled due to a bad batch.

Me wonders how often as consumes....we have bad batches.

I tend to check the exp date of things of buy.
Just a bad habit I guess. Even simple things like *cereal* and stuff. You'd be amazed on how often expired stuff is on the shelf to the unknowing eye...

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

It's intentional in most cases.....they know it will sell and the majority will not return caulk amoung other minor disposables.

I've never seen a date on caulk before.

 

[Jimbo]

The ones labeled K/B or Tub/Tile usually means there is a mildew additive. Also, DAP QwikSeal-3 is just out. It is quick-cure, meaning you are allowed to use the shower in 3 hours. I already find that I like DAP, but is sets quiclkly. You need to do your finish work within a minute or so, or it can be hard to tool.

Polyseamseal is user friendly, and probably as good as the others.

Silicones are more prone to "bad batches" which you sometimes don't find out about until too late! They are relatively easy to work with, but you must use denatured alcohol for tooling and cleanup. I always wear latex gloves becauset the alcohol is very harsh on your skin.

 

[Cass]

I beleive it is GE that makes a "building caulk" that is the best I have ever used.

It is used on the exterior of sky scrapers.

It is avaliable only to the construction trade as far as I know and is not avaliable to the general public.

I was able to get a few tubes of this stuff and it is by far the best I have ever used. It takes longer to set & cure than most.

 

[Chefwong]

Read a blurb that it doesn't really matter across most brands as most of the *mildew resistent* chaulk have so little mildewcide in it , that in 6 months or so, the mildewcide is gone. Moreso, it's a *govt reg* thing , as if they put more mildewcide, it will be catagorized into something else.....FWIW.

Cass, you may be referring to either what I believe is called *non cure* silicone or one of the quality urethane sealants out there. Sonneborn, Silka, etc. The non cure stuff if I recall takes ALOT longer to setup, but it does not react with certain metals/stone that regular silicone does.

 

[kenno]

Caulking woes (Will not cure)

I was doing disjes in my sink when the caulking surrounding the sink collapsed. (I have an undercounter flush mount stainless steel sink.)

I remember many years back a window repair man stepped into the sink and I heard a noise indicdive of a seal being broken.

None the less I cleaned the rim of all dried silicon and re-caulked the sink with a tube of silicone I had in the basement from a few years back. It has now been drying for 24 hours and is still soft to the touch.....After reading other posts it appears that the silicone may have expired (2006) and hence will not cure properly.

Just wondering (Is all lost) and I have to redoo everything ?

Is there any way to try and make it cure (I.E> Heat ?)

Is there any way to easily clean this goo ?

Thanks

Used what I had in an emergency ! But to no avail....