Home stuff: good painters caulk

[Triumph]

All of the trim work in my house is cracking this winter due to thermal movement. Well not all of it, but mainly on the stairways along the baseboard. The gap is maybe 1/8" through the caulking. I started ripping up one section of the baseboard cap and I decided that the trim work was done so poorly I'd just redo all of it on the stairs. None of the angled cuts are done right, they cut them poorly and just filled all of the gaps between angles with caulking.

So I was looking for some paintable caulking that would be extremely flexible because I know this is going to move again next year and I don't want to have to redo it. I'll be repainting the baseboard trip and then painting the walls and I want to do it right the first time.

Following the baseboards I'm going to be putting some picture frame window casings up, but I don't expect these to move and was just going to use any old cheap caulking for this.

 

[911paramedic]

lmgtfy...

Ah, painters caulk is what you are looking for.

My house is about nine months old and I just noticed some of the caulk is starting to separate in the kitchen and bathroom, so I need to reapply some as well.

 

[Vette73]

Don;t use the stuff that says "painters caulk" on it. Get something that has silicone in it. Not 100% silicon though. The silicone will keep it from shrinking and help it stick.

Lows has some on sale this week.

 

[Squisher]

Alex Plus


btw-my son's name is Alex, when we're working together on his house he has upon occasion got a little tired of Dad saying, "hand me your caulk" "I really like your caulk" "your caulk is the best" etc.

 

[Sluggo]

http://www.amazon.com/Sashco-10016-1.../dp/B000H5OOPU

Big stretch is expensive, but good stuff. You do have to paint over it well, because it does tend to yellow over time. You can't find it at Lowes or Home Depot, just call around to some professional painting suppliers to find some locally.

At the bottom of this page there is a sample 6pack from the manufacturer for about $38.00 shipped. http://www.sashcosealants.com/Home_Improvement/Big_Stretch.aspx

 

[alkemyst]

second DAP Alex Plus. They had a product like 3000 or something I liked too.

Easy water clean up, and smoothes nice.

 

[BoomerD]

Most 100% silicone caulk isn't paintable. Get a good acrylic caulk with silicone...Alex/Alex Plus are excellent products.

 

[finglobes]

What you need is an elastomeric caulk with 100% memory. Most painters caulks stretch out but they dont go back to their original state. That's why you see ropes of caulk hanging out of cracks - they stretched out and then could not go back.


Most marine caulks are elastomeric:


http://www1.dealtime.com/rule-elastomeric-marine-sealant/products

 

[SunnyD]

What? No caulk jokes yet? This thread is fail.

 

[Heller]

Is the black caulk bigger then the white caulk?

 

[Triumph]

http://www.amazon.com/Sashco-10016-1.../dp/B000H5OOPU

Big stretch is expensive, but good stuff. You do have to paint over it well, because it does tend to yellow over time. You can't find it at Lowes or Home Depot, just call around to some professional painting suppliers to find some locally.

At the bottom of this page there is a sample 6pack from the manufacturer for about $38.00 shipped. http://www.sashcosealants.com/Home_Improvement/Big_Stretch.aspx

That looks like what I'm looking for, cost is not important since I don't want to do it again.

I don't think my Home Depot had any of that Alex stuff - very little DAP products. Most of the caulking was Red Devil or GE.

 

[moshquerade]

What? No caulk jokes yet? This thread is fail.

I thought of it right off, but figured someone would complain I made another comment about cocks.

 

[Vette73]

That looks like what I'm looking for, cost is not important since I don't want to do it again.

I don't think my Home Depot had any of that Alex stuff - very little DAP products. Most of the caulking was Red Devil or GE.

Most is the same stuff, many made at the same plant.

Just look for one that has silicone in it but is not 100% silicone.

 

[Triumph]

Most is the same stuff, many made at the same plant.

Just look for one that has silicone in it but is not 100% silicone.

I don't think they're all the same. I'm sure that the contractors who built my house used the cheapest of the cheap, and that's why it is cracking so much. Maybe they used a product without any silicone.

 

[Vette73]

I don't think they're all the same. I'm sure that the contractors who built my house used the cheapest of the cheap, and that's why it is cracking so much. Maybe they used a product without any silicone.

Yea the $1 a tube caulk is easy to use and clean up well. BUT it also does not last long and cracks easy.

Lowes has the polyseamseal tub and tile ultra caulk half-off this weekend. It works well anywhere, even the bathroom, and is paintable.
http://www.polyseamseal.com/ttultra.shtml

 

[Squisher]

Yea the $1 a tube caulk is easy to use and clean up well. BUT it also does not last long and cracks easy.

Lowes has the polyseamseal tub and tile ultra caulk half-off this weekend. It works well anywhere, even the bathroom, and is paintable.
http://www.polyseamseal.com/ttultra.shtml

Polyseamseal is great stuff, but it seems to like to stick to itself and my finger better than the place I'm trying to get it to adhere to. I don't know how many times I've run my finger down the caulk to smooth it and had the entire bead of caulk come off, dangling from my finger. wtf?

 

[alkemyst]

Polyseamseal is great stuff, but it seems to like to stick to itself and my finger better than the place I'm trying to get it to adhere to. I don't know how many times I've run my finger down the caulk to smooth it and had the entire bead of caulk come off, dangling from my finger. wtf?

Are the temps right? Has the tube expired or was stored incorrectly?

Something is wrong.

Also make sure your finger is damp prior to smoothing it.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I use the Alex Plus stuff too...Also, there are ratings on that stuff for 15-30 years. The difference between the good stuff and the better stuff is usually only a dollar or so. Spend a little extra and buy the tube that costs $3.50-4.50... It's designed to handle years of temp changes and won't have problems. Typically 30-50 year caulk is what they use to seal replacement windows and roofing. Standard painters caulk can actually dry out and become brittle in just a few years when exposed to the elements or severe cold/heat.

 

[Triumph]

Yea the $1 a tube caulk is easy to use and clean up well. BUT it also does not last long and cracks easy.

Lowes has the polyseamseal tub and tile ultra caulk half-off this weekend. It works well anywhere, even the bathroom, and is paintable.
http://www.polyseamseal.com/ttultra.shtml

That seems to be mainly for tub & tile, not trimwork. I tend to believe that "do it all" products probably do it all just ok, and don't do any one thing exceptionally well. I dunno, maybe it is good. But there's gotta be something that's perfect for what I want to do - caulking baseboards that move. I think I'm going to go with the acrylic latex caulk with silicone.

 

[0roo0roo]

That seems to be mainly for tub & tile, not trimwork. I tend to believe that "do it all" products probably do it all just ok, and don't do any one thing exceptionally well. I dunno, maybe it is good. But there's gotta be something that's perfect for what I want to do - caulking baseboards that move. I think I'm going to go with the acrylic latex caulk with silicone.

i dunno, tub caulk is probably strongest, many other caulks just disolve if you try them in place of tub cualk. weakest caulk are some of the cheap paint caulks. tub caulk has constant exposure to hot water and stuff all the time, severe conditions. so some of the costliest caulks are tub caulk. if you want the best it probably works good in other applications, just considered over kill for contractors.