Tag: Sealants

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Construction Materials-Better Alternatives to Silicone

Silicon (notice the spelling difference from “silicone”), is number 14 on the periodic table of elements and happens to be second most abundant element in the earth’s crust.  It was first isolated as an element in the 1820’s and has since been used to create products we use in everyday life.  It is used in semiconductors and photovoltaic panels.  Silicon dioxide, or silica, is used in concrete and in the production of ceramics.  Silicon is also used to create silicone, a manmade compound with many applications.  It is used in the medical community (think implants) and as a lubricant used in both industrial applications and for food preparation (non-stick cookware).  What this article will focus on though is its use in the construction industry, as a sealant.

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Construction Design-Caulking 101-Terminology

Before having a conversation with someone about a specific topic, you really should know the subject matter, the definitions and terminology related to the topics being discussed.  Talking about sealants and caulking is no different.  In the coming blogs, we will be chatting about many different topics with regards to sealants, this thing we are calling caulking 101.  This blog post is the prerequisite for those conversations.

Caulks, sealants, adhesives-what are the differences?

Caulk is a type of sealant that has less movement or flexibility to other sealants.  It’s often used as a cosmetic solution instead of a true “keep things out of a joint” product.  To caulk or caulking can also be used as a verb, the application of a sealant.

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Construction Design-Caulking 101

This is the intro in a series of sponsored post, I’ve partnered with Sashco, the maker of Big Stretch and Lexel sealants to talk about the basics of caulking and sealants, we are calling this Caulking 101.

You’re ready!  The tube of caulking is in the caulking gun, the tip is cut, and the inner seal has been punctured.  You’re ready to start squeezing that trigger.  But are you really ready?  Are you using the right sealant?  Have you designed a proper joint?  Has the surface been prepped?  Did you cut the tip properly?  What’s the plan for tooling?  Caulking is more than just smearing some pookie on a joint, the end product should look good, but more importantly perform and last.  Caulking and caring.

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