Most of the time when using a tube of caulk or construction adgesive (PL Premium – polyurethane based adhesive- is notorious for this), I loose about a third of the tube to leakage. When you “click off” the caulking gun, the stuff keeps on oozing out of the tube forever, making a giant puddle of caulk or adhesive! Did anybody else experience this, and if so, what can be done about it? Sometimes, in mid-tube, it “burps”, and then the oozing stops. But this is not always the case. I feel I am wasting a lot of adhesive / caulk because of this annoying problem.
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Replies
Are you using a $1.97 caulk gun?
Get a "good one". I have abut $6 dripless and don't have this problem, but did with the old one.
No, actually I am using the best caulking gun I could find (about $10.00), but the oozing continues even if I take the tube out of the gun.
I sometimes have that problem with alex plus. Especially if it has been in the sun for awhile and gotten warm (the tube). I just toss it and pop open another one.
Better or best caulk gun and quit trying to squeeze so much at one time.
For small jobs I use gorilla glue, or similar. The smaller containers, the 4 oz bottle fits nicely into a tool belt, that don't need a caulk gun are easier to control, reseal more completely and are generally handier for small jobs. These glues are, I think, just about the same stuff as PLPremium. I like these glues. They are products that form joints stronger than the base materials.
Use construction adhesive alot at work and we employe two techniques to minimize adhesive and caulk from "oozing" out the tip. First when you "click off" the tool go ahead and pull the plunger back just a little bit. This releases some of the pressure and a whole lott less puckey then flows out compaired to just "clicking off" the tool. Secondly, if we're not going to use the gun for a few moments we also stuff something into the tip of the tube. Depending on the size of the opening we cut it can be anything from a drywall screw to a course thread door hinge type screw. This usually also eliminates a bunch of the mess these dang quart guns can leave allover the place, and if you let the screw sit in the tip to long and the adhesive hardens it in place you can just glomp onto the screw with a pair of pliers and unscrew it.
These little pigs truely are a messy hassle, and it seems if you ever loan one out to someone you don't know well the ingrates don't clean them up afterward and leave the mess or stuck gun for you to deal with.
Just like any tool- buy a good one, keep it clean, and don't loan it out.
Have Fun! Cork in Dallas.