Looking for bruddah goopo-calking expert

[zinco]

OK i know your sick of it but i need to know asap.

what is the best stuff in a tube to calk around various old holes (for whatever) in the roof of my casita. I went online and u tube and got more and more confused. I would prefer something i can use in a calking gun. That seems more reasonable than using this tape from heaven they all talk about. I guess i am willing to use the tape but come on there has got to be a good calk for fiberglass. they said Silaprene but where can i get it. I don't give a XXXooo what you think-- maybe ---...please what do you know.. Thank you!

[Raz]

For filling screw holes in fiberglass PC 7 and PC 11 are favorites. PC 7 is a 2 part epoxy that has the consistency of silly putty and can be pushed into a hole. PC 11 has the consistency of tooth paste. Both can be sanded when hard. The butyl tape you are hearing about is what you should use to seal anything attached to your trailer. For example, if I were reinstalling a leaky roof vent I would bed it in butyl tape to prevent leaks. Much more permanent that any caulk. Good luck, Raz

[rabbit]

The ". . . around various old holes (for whatever)" made me think Terry is asking about a bedding gasket for fans and vents rather than hole patching. In either case, Raz has a rec for each situation. There are probably some marine bedding compounds for caulk guns (3M-5200) you could use but all the goopo-calk bruddahs learn to use butyl tape and love it. So much easier to control the application, squeezeout, and cleanup once you get the tune in your head. Please eschew the use of silicone-based goopos; they adhere to everything somewhere and fail to seal anything everywhere.

For small holes (match-head sized) in a fiberglass surface, the catalyzed epoxies mentioned work well enuf and have the advantage of being more or less white when they cure. For larger areas that require filling and fairing (sanding flush to contour) I pretty much follow the conventional wisdom of like with like and would use polyester resin-based body filler (bondo). Others will recommend bridging even relatively small depressions with catalyzed polyester resin and fiberglass mat. Both require a color-matching overcoat (paint, polyester gel-coat). Paint finish to a glass repair is much easier to learn to apply ASAP.

[Francesca Knowles]

I'm a bit of a prig when it comes to such things, and my motto is:

If it can't be totally hidden/erased, it's better to make it look as if I didn't try to do so.

In my opinion, abandoned screw/rivet holes can never be filled in a way that makes them invisible to the eye, unless properly done/sanded out prior to a paint job. For that reason, my preference for plugging such holes is to use ordinary hole plugs seated with a bit of sealant.

Since yours is a Casita, the common white the plugs come in will "match", and redrilling/reaming for constant size is no problem.

Available at most hardware stores as well as online...

Francesca

[zinco]

[QUOTE=zinco;348603]OK i know your sick of it but i need to know asap.

what is the best stuff in a tube to calk around various old holes (for whatever) in the roof of my casita. I went online and u tube and got more and more confused. I would prefer something i can use in a calking gun. That seems more reasonable than using this tape from heaven they all talk about. I guess i am willing to use the tape but come on there has got to be a good calk for fiberglass. they said Silaprene but where can i get it. I don't give a XXXooo what you think-- maybe ---...please what do you know.. Thank you!

what i meant was for around the factory holes for various things and even for the solar and around the tops of the windows come on i would't use tape there.

[zinco]

i do not want to mix up epoxy or some other messy idea , there has got to be a single "BEST" product i can put in a calking gun and do the job quickly efficiently and looks dicent. thank you for your help!

[rabbit]

Horses and water.

jack

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by zinco

i do not want to mix up epoxy or some other messy idea , there has got to be a single "BEST" product i can put in a calking gun and do the job quickly efficiently and looks dicent. thank you for your help!

There is no such product.

You must either:

a)Change your time/effort/method requirements
or
b) Accept a lower standard of what "looks decent".

Francesca

[Thomas G.]

Well, this is easy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2R_VN_vH_g

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

Well, this is easy:

This is even easier!




Francesca

[rabbit]

Don't have to pre-chew the FlexSeal but unbiased tests indicate the Spearmint tastes better. Seriously, Terry, if you're still looking in, try the 3M Industries gun caulks such as 3M5200. They are a recommended product for thru-hull fittings, handrails, sheet tracks, winches, on fiberglass sailboats. NOTE: THis is a product which creates a gasket between objects; it is not a hole patch.

jack

[Raz]

Originally Posted by rabbit

Don't have to pre-chew the FlexSeal but unbiased tests indicate the Spearmint tastes better. Seriously, Terry, if you're still looking in, try the 3M Industries gun caulks such as 3M5200. They are a recommended product for thru-hull fittings, handrails, sheet tracks, winches, on fiberglass sailboats. NOTE: THis is a product which creates a gasket between objects; it is not a hole patch.

jack

jack, am I wrong? Isn't 3 M 5200 an adhesive that once applied can not be removed? Or am I confusing it with something else? Raz

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

jack, am I wrong? Isn't 3 M 5200 an adhesive that once applied can not be removed? Or am I confusing it with something else? Raz

That's my understanding. I believe 4200 is less permanent.

[rabbit]

Raz, my recollections from bedding (and rebedding) a bunch of deck hardware on glass sailing cruisers in the 70s is that it was pretty tenacious--particularly when it got ground into unprotected areas of non-skid molded into the side decks. If memory serves, we used a few drums a year of laquer thinner and "special" thinner scrubbing it off. So it's soluable and I'm still alive for the moment!

jack

hedging addendum: It appears that a combination of light abrasion and any solvent that will attack it allows for removal. Complete removal is apparently a bit more difficult. I concede the "removal difficulty" point made by Raz and Tom.

[Eddie Longest]

I addition to butyl tape I use dicor sealant for roof vents, frig. vents and on top edges of older windows. On flat surfaces I use the self leving calking. Most RV dealers carry it. Check out the movie in the attached link.
Eddie
Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant - Product - Camping World

[Evan Friesen]

I think very highly of Sikaflex 291. I used to keep a tube of it in my Boler and garage to use on almost anything. I used it for re-bedding windows, vents, fixtures and sealing around things I didn't really want to take off and re-bed when I reno'd. A dab under every everything and I haven't had a leak in a year (except through the worn seals of my jalousies that is...).

I don't recall having used it on any holes though...I would if I HAD to though...Like, for example, if my Boler was in space and the only thing that kept me from getting sucked out into the vacuum of space through an 1/8" hole was to fill that hole with caulking rather than wait to get home, spend 5 minutes with some epoxy and a popsicle stick.

Anyways...Sikaflex 291 adheres very well and has lasted 3-4 years (and running) in places where I meant it as a quick-fix. Tip: It cleans up before cured very well with wet-wipes! It is much easier to clean up once cured than sil-ick-cone.

For holes that you want to fill, but don't want to hassle with epoxy I really like Francesca's idea (...the first one, that is! ;D ). I will probably use that in the future if I accumulate excessive holes in my Boler for whatever reason. One could even use sikaflex to caulk the little plug in place if you feel absolutely inclined to use a caulking gun.

[Donna D.]

Humm, it's not what you asked... but, it's my opinion, I'd put rivets and snap caps on.

[Bob Miller]

"i do not want to mix up epoxy or some other messy idea , there has got to be a single "BEST" product i can put in a calking gun and do the job quickly efficiently and looks dicent. thank you for your help!"
-----------------------------
If such a product existed it would have been mentioned, unfortunately, it doesn't exist.....

That said, the best feature of almost all calkings that come in a tube is that, once applied, they will usually provide a marker as to where the next leaks will occur. As far as sealing windows, roof vents and door frames, RV puty tape is the way to go, unless you like to chase leaks that is

Need proof. Find an area where the builder applied silicone sealer, run a blade under it and see how easily it peels off.....

[Thomas G.]

Re mixing up mess epoxy:

Go to the dollar store and buy a box is the little Dixie drinking cups and a bag of Popsicle sticks. Maybe splurge on a bag of latex disposable gloves. Now, you can mix up stuff in a jiffy then just toss the tools.

[Pam Garlow]

As is many times the case on this forum, this thread has great information.

....and I had never heard the phrase Bruddo Goopa-Calk! I've added it to my list of 'words-to-use' in my next meeting at work (LOL) I'm in the design/construction/project management field, so it will come in handy