Needed some filler to make good around some light switches and a mate had mentioned it before.
It knocks Polyfilla into a cocked hat - this stuff is creamy and very easy to work with - I had to put in a fillet 1x1cm the length of the backbox side and despite the bulk, it goes in, stays in and allows to to smooth it to perfection with a knife with no cleanup or sanding needed.
Didn't even drop any on the floor.
So that's my tip for the day :)
Been using that for years, it's been mentioned on here before.
I agree, bloody marvelous stuff, I don't use anything else.
I once filled a 2"deep hole in a ceiling in one go!
Microspheres. I have to say the TS own label version I used was anything but creamy, and actually pretty useless. The tubs of pre-mixed patching plaster work in the same way IIRC
I've used the Sika/EverBuild version from TS and it was fine, the tub felt empty before I started using it, are those spheres full of helium? :-P
I must have missed that -
Make you wonder why Polyfilla still exists. Red Devil cost me all of £7 odd for a litre tub...
Hmm. This came from TS but is the genuine label.
All the others I've had, from Wickes own to Polyfilla all seem to dry and crumbly or they shrink badly on drying.
Any good for fixing cracks between plasterboard sheets, though? Only thing I've found that works is a good decorator's caulk - but it shrinks so needs several applications.
What i need is something that grips well, is flexible, and doesn't shrink.
A 10 kg bag of joint filler or Artex powder costs £14. Usually I don't need a filler to be lightweight or fast setting.
Yes, I'd be interested to know that, too. I've got cracks in some of my ceilings which are difficult to fill by any means currently known to me!
Also, what is its shelf life, once opened? If I use a bit now and then come to use some more in a year's time, am I going to find a solid mass in the tub?
No but the stuff with microspheres doesn't shrink when it sets like the stuff you use.
Acrylic caulking is better for suff that moves a bit, it is flexible like silicone but can be painted.
Decorator's caulk does do the job. But needs perhaps 5 or 6 applications, so allow plenty time for this before painting. But it does last better than anything else I've tried. Did my problem ceiling some three years ago, and it's still fine. All the other fillers I've tried lasted weeks before the cracks appeared again.
It doesn't shrink like other fillers, but would be susceptible to movement cracking.
It dries out a bit, but the addition of a few drops of water sorts that out.
everbuild caulk once, does wot it says on tube, really low shrinkage
Thanks. But what's the max time it takes you to get through a tub? If you're using it frequently, it would almost certainly take me longer!
I'm a great fan of lightweight products but I don't see why they would shrink any more or less than, say, Gyproc joint filler
The balls don't shrink at all and they make up most of the bulk.
I tend to buy the 1 litre tubs cos they are cheaper. I use one every two/three months.
Which is generally why there are cracks in a ceiling in the first place. ;-)
The idea that a filler won't crack regardless of the surface it's being applied to is faintly ridiculous. Something that dries flexible, like silicone or caulk, will obviously accommodate movement but can't be sanded or matched to any non-flexible surface like wood or plaster
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