Applying sealant

[Pete]

Pffft what a day, not having a great deal of experience using a sealant gun or sealant I made a bit of a mess lol.

Ok firstly I was trying to use a special sealant for around windows which is white as I think it looks neat to block out any draughts from the joins. I aquired my sealant from b&q and a sealant gun, cut the nozzle at an angle, squeezed it gently and moved along that bit went ok, then I applied some washing up liquid as the chappy in b&q said it was his top tip of the day, basically apply some to you index finger before you drag it and it goes neatly and smootly, did it ever it was a right old mess, now waiting for it to dry up and rip it off!

I saw one of these in the local diy place

you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it gentle in a steady fashion to achieve a neat finish. I seriously contemplating using this as my finger did not do a good job lol.

How on earth do the pros get a flawless finish ?

and even after I stopped pressing the trigger on the sealant gun the sealant kept oooooozing out ? ... a lot got wasted. Is there a trick to stop it ?

Any tips on using this stuff and application greatly received :)

[Tim Watts]

Pete ( [e-mail]) wibbled on Friday 04 February 2011 21:05:

Yep - you said it. Some people can manage to apply perfectly with a gun (a smooth or powered gun helps) or use a finger.

For me - Fugenboy did the job with silicone and acrylic. Anything of that ilk (eg your Fugi) will make a huge difference - as will keeping it wiped clean during use (water damped kitchen tissue for acrylic, meths for silicone).

Basically, apply, over apply slightly but not too much. As you say, draw the tool over the joint - any dragging rather than digging angle is fine.

The tool is flexible so it "mops up" cleanly and the material wipes clean easily so you don;t get ragedy gunge build up messing up your work - it's those two atributes I believe that make it work so well.

Looked after, my Fugenboy will last quite a long time based on current experience so worth the money.

Cheers

Tim

[Mr Pounder]

I hope he understood that Fugenboy stuff.

>

[Sorcerer]

> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it

Have a look at the video here

If you like, a run of masking tape above and below the sealant line makes things easier but these things are definitely the dog's danglies.

[Pete]

>>> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it

Bit like that tool I posted in original link ?

My brother in law said he picked one up last year for a pound! and can have it. Looks similar, I'm just after a simple flat finish. Looks similar what do you reckon ? .. I don't want to spend any more money than I have to as it will only be used once.

[Pete]

Nope went above my head, which my wife is still trying to remove sealant from as I scratched it thinking bugger this went wrong :)

[Roger Mills]

> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it gentle

You can smooth it with a wet finger, but the trick is to apply just the right amount of sealant - so that there aren't any gaps but so that your finger doesn't actually remove any sealant, but simply smooths the surface.

If you use a fugi, there's slightly more leeway because that *can* remove any surplus without making a mess. However, I find them difficult to use in awkward corners, and prefer a finger!

With regard to stopping the gun from continuing to ooze sealant, there's a little lever at the back end which releases the pressure. Press that as soon as you've stopped squeezing the trigger.

[Tim Watts]

Pete ( [e-mail]) wibbled on Friday 04 February 2011 22:10:

Fugenboy is a tool - similar to the Fugi. I just happen to have the former so I cannot comment on the latter.

Was anything else hard to follow? I'm happy to try and explain again if it helps (long day, trees on railway, late home, writing letters to dickheads at Passport Office, generally too bolloxed to write sane English!)

[Lobster]

>>>>> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it >> gentle

I've often done the same. However I have heard that using a wet finger makes it more likely that the dreaded black mould will develop on the silicone in due course. Is this just urban legend? The biologist in me says it's rubbish but as one of my round tuits is the replacement of some severely blackened silicone (which I'm pretty sure was the expensive anti-mildew stuff) I'm interested to know.

Just wondering - although the above ebay seller describes his item as 'fugi' whether it's actually the same thing at all: IME the fugi kit is made from specific material to make it do its job so well?

FWIW I have one of these:

which is supposed to not only stop the flow of sealant dead, but will actually

*retract* the bead if you've squirted out too much. Bought it from Screwfix a couple of years back and I note they don't stock it any more: not surprised as it's crap. Very rarely works as described: the concept is that the end of the plunger is supposed to engage with the (ie internal, moving) base of the sealant tube, and 'pull' as well as 'push' it.

David

[Tim Watts]

Lobster ( [e-mail]) wibbled on Saturday 05 February

2011 10:44:

The Fugenboy is made from silicone rubber - a fairly stiff version.

[The Medway Handyman]

Video here - albeit in German - but it shows how they work.

You can buy them from Lidl every 6 months or so.....

[The Medway Handyman]

>>>>>>>>>>> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it >>> gentle

I had a Durgun as well & I agree - expensive crap, useless object.

However, its well worth buying a decent gun. I struggled with the £4 jobbies for years until I bought one of these

& cheese.

SF also do 'Fugen' type tools

[Peter Johnson]

The fitter who installed new windows for me last month used masking tape to get a straight edge and then his wet finger to smooth the silicon.

[Mr Pounder]

He probably did not have the art with silicone, I sure as hell haven't. I have seen the pros do it, it is just wham and it's done. Suppose it is a bit of an art. I once watched a bloke seal all of the joints in an under construction meat factory. He was a real pro but kept sticking his finger into his mouth. This just can't be good.

>

[Dave]

I looked up both a fugi and a fugenboy and my question is...

If you over apply the silicone, how do you get rid of the excess that spills over the edge of the radius on a worktop to a tiled wall joint?

Dave

[Tim Watts]

Dave ( [e-mail]) wibbled on Saturday 05 February 2011 16:52:

The tool will accumulate the excess as a blob. Just wipe off the tool periodically.

Every so often, wipe the tool with meths which IME cleans it up good and properly.

Cheers

Tim

[John Rumm]

Cans of isopropyl alcohol also do a nice job of cleaning wet silicone. CPC doe aerosols which make application easy.

[John Rumm]

>>>>> basically you can pick which corner you want, size wise and drage it

Try it and see... you can always wipe it off and start again if you don't like the result.

[John Rumm]

I've often done the same. However I have heard that using a wet finger

IME its hard to get the same quality of surface to the silicone with a finger - and any roughness will aid the mould getting a foothold.

It looks similar to the fugi, but its not actually a fugi since it unibond branded for starters, and the shape is a little different.

Can't tell from the picture what the material is like. The real tool is made from something that has a little give in it, which helps working in non square corners, and also the material is quite "slippery" and hence quite easy to wipe the sealant off.

[Roger Mills]

Looks very similar to one I bought from SF a few years ago - except that mine is all black. I presume that the barrel rotates, like mine? This is a useful feature when you want to re-orient the slope on the end of the nozzle. *However*, on mine, the rotating barrel is attached to the trigger assembly by means of a largish flanged threaded plastic component - and the whole thing has come apart on several occasions. When the sealant is very stiff - e.g. when trying to restart a part-used tube of Gripfill - the considerable axial force, which you generate by pulling hard on the trigger, puts the thread into tension - and it just pulls out.

Does yours ever do that?

In my latest attempt at getting it to stay together, I've wrapped some gas-grade PTFE tape round the thread before re-assembling it - and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because - apart from that - it's a nice gun.