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otherCaulk vs silicon sealant (self.DIY)

submitted by Electronic_Honeydew1

Renovated house 2 yrs ago. Did a lot of caulking / siliconing. Used well reviewed brands, followed instructions. Now pretty much all caulk has gone yellow / orange and cracked but the silicon looks great still. Need to do some more caulking thinking about just using silicon as it will get the sun. Interested to hear what others do and if caulk holds any advantage at all? Thanks

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[–]Intelligent_Ebb4887 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Most silicone isn't paintable, so you wouldn't want to use it in areas that would get painted at any point. If you're looking at exterior products, polyurethane caulk is a good option as well.

[–]craigcoffman 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Most caulks will do that if not painted. The siliconized stuff less so.

[–]DipDoodle -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Most caulks bought at a home center, yes. Not all caulks though

[–]imoutohere 8 points9 points  (19 children)

There is a product called Quad. You can get it at big box stores. It isn’t very paintable. But you can groom it better than silicone. I would also recommend phenosil. My experience has been the clear caulking and silicone tend to yellow over time. But cracking after 2 yrs? That’s weird.

[–]FirstForFun44 4 points5 points  (9 children)

OSI Quad Max is my Frank's Red Hot. I put that shit on everything.

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (5 children)

Not the best paintability and it loses its flexibility after a few years

[–]Somepeopleskidslol 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Volcom, it's like quad but printable oil based and I have seen it out of the weather where it's pliable after 15 plus years.

[–]DipDoodle 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Vulkem is pretty good but it’s just a polyurethane, the UV kills this technology over time

[–]Somepeopleskidslol 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Hence why I said painted areas.

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ehh also Vulkem is loaded with Plasticizers that leach out of it into your paint and fuck your paint job up as the material loses its flexibility.

[–]Somepeopleskidslol 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess I said printable. I wouldn't use it without painting it. But for painted areas it blows quad out of the water.

[–]123isausernameforme 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's how I am with Dynaflex 230

[–]FirstForFun44 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apparently quad max isn't that great over time :(

[–]SatanLifeProTips 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Franks Red Hot. The ‘is pepsi ok?’ of hot sauces.

[–]DipDoodle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends on where he is. Quad is a good product, quad max as well. Depending on application there could be better choice.

[–]Electronic_Honeydew1[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

We live in the uk so wet winters fairly hot summers so I get that stuff moves but was surprised how much it has cracked

[–]FirstForFun44 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Hold up, Quad Max cracked?

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quad max has a lot of plasticizers in it. They will migrate out and the sealant becomes brittle. Also if you took it too thin the sun will destroy it

[–]imoutohere 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Maybe the product was bad. I live in US northeast, so we get a lot of expansion and contraction also. The point of the caulking is it’s supposed to be flexible. I think that you had a bad batch of caulking or something.

[–]Electronic_Honeydew1[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I used a few different types bought in different batches applied at different times - caulked the whole house! All were well reviewed on Amazon. Strange

[–]LearningIsTheBest 0 points1 point  (2 children)

+1 for Quad. Frustrating to install due to stickiness (wear disposable gloves) but seals so gooooood.

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You Might be taking about quad max? Quad is sticky but nowhere near as messy as quad max

[–]LearningIsTheBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, you're probably right. To avoid confusion, Quad Max should be renamed "Penta."

[–]fredsam25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Silicone where you don't care about matching the color perfectly, want a great seal. Caulk and paint everywhere else.

[–]clemclem3 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Silicone is often a problem because it sticks to silicone better than anything else. Over time movement will cause silicone to peel off of one side of any joint and stubbornly stick to the other side and be a p i t a to remove. Quad is much better. Quad is a version of polyurethane sealant or PL. These sealants are difficult to apply and messy and they never really cure so they sort of stay gummy but they have really good performance as sealers

Siliconized latex or. Siliconized acrylic is a very different thing. Paintable. Water clean up. Stays flexible better than regular latex

Good old regular latex caulk my brand is white lightning is still a very good option for anything that's going to be painted over. It holds paint well and it's very inexpensive and easy to apply

There's also butyl rubber mostly used on metal like gutters and copolymer sealant like lexel. Very messy very difficult to apply but can provide really good performance for the right application

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (2 children)

White lightning is pure garbage my dood. I work for a manufacturer, and we all can agree on this at least

[–]clemclem3 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What is your preferred latex caulk my dood

[–]DipDoodle -1 points0 points  (0 children)

PPG Top Gun 200xi or 250 for interior paint. Top gun 400 for exterior. Some harder paint are finicky with tg400

[–]leroyyrogers 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I've moved to using dynaflex ultra for all my caulking needs. It's durable, stretches, paintable, and mold proof. It's rated for interior and exterior so I have no need for anything else.

[–]clemclem3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like it too. Easy to work with.

[–]bcbigfoot 1 point2 points  (1 child)

as a renovation carpenter, I have had really good results with Dynaflex 230.

[–]123isausernameforme 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Me too. It's all I use/keep in stock anymore(except for the real special use scenarios) . Jack of all caulks and it's really good at mostly everything.

[–]Material_Swimmer2584 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Use Alex not DAP

[–]DipDoodle 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Lol Alex is Dap

[–]Material_Swimmer2584 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Crap which am I thinking of. Construction guys always saying Alex plus is better than x

[–]DipDoodle 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Maybe white lightning or red devil? Both probably worse than Alex plus. All of these caulks suck though, if you want actually good painters caulk you have to go to a professional paint store and get some PPG top gun or all pro brand

[–]Material_Swimmer2584 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome. This is going in my screenshot file. 🙏

[–]randomn49er 0 points1 point  (1 child)

All depends where you are using it. Silicone in kitchen and bathroom. For exterior applications a polyurethane caulk will allow expansion and contraction and resit UV breakdown.

[–]DipDoodle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UV destroys polyurethane sealants worse than anything

[–]Pikablu555 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silicone is significantly more stretchy and holds up better to expansion and contraction. But as many have said it is not paintable most of the time, you can find paintable silicon though.

[–]Craig-Carmoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silicone is best if the goal is to protect from water damage.

[–]99ProblemsButABIsOne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alex+