PL ooze out tip

[Tim A]

Ooze out is a pain, as we all know. The interior makes no difference, but the joints you can see need to be cleaned up.

I'm always looking for an easier way, and after trying a few things I hit on the following. No rocket science, but it works well.

After the panel is glued and attached, take a rag dampened with mineral spirits and wipe the joint. Use your fingertip in the rag and pull it along the joint as if you were smoothing caulk. You'll want to have enough mineral spirits to wash the wood at the same time. Take as much as you can off the joint.

No, this will not compromise the joint or creat air leaks. In fact, it's quite the opposite. If you pay attention as you wipe the joint you can pull excess material into any voids, creating a fillet. Press hard as you pull to force it into the voids. It works so well I now do it on interior joints if there is any question at all about a void.

Done correctly, once the PL dries there is still expansion and you'll be left with a very small bead that comes off easily by running a chisel along the joint. If you wipe down the panels where the PL has gotten on, sanding is minimal.

You'll go through a lot of rags and some mineral spirits, but it's well worth it in the long run. The amount of time you'll save in scraping and sanding alone is worth it. You'll save PL since you won't need to go back and patch anything, and you'll save on sandpaper too as loading from the PL will be minimal.

[bgavin]

Mineral spirits is also very good are removing uncured PL from hands and tools.

[LelandCrooks]

I had thought of that, and was afraid to try it. Glad to know it works well. Another tool in the arsenal.

Best scrape out tool ever,


1 or 2 passes and it's out, even the big gobs. Clean and slick. The one I use is about 50 yrs old, not quite this pretty.

[cforger]

You know, not to be an ass, but I haven't found any ooze problems with PL Premium - Maybe it's because I do a lot of caulking, and I'm familiar with using spray foam (talk about ooze and drip there!). No gloves, no mess on hands, no problems.

I've got some smooth 1 pass PL joints that don't need any touching up.. You need to have a good caulking gun, and a small enough hole cut (at a 45 deg angle) on the tip, and a steady hand.. it should all go together nicely. Patience is the largest requirement.. go slow, smoothly, and work at the speed of the gun, don't try and force it faster, then you get surges of the stuff. Always take the pressure off the tube with the release when you finish a run, and keep a paper towel handy to clean the nozzle each time.

And where it doesn't end up nice - a sharp knife and a bit of sanding take care of it.

[LelandCrooks]

I have always struggled with caulking, be it from a gun or tube. I do have PL down to where I get a nice 1/8 bead on the ooze out. Only the occasional blob.

When it has to be a nice caulk joint, I get my wife to do it.

[bgavin]

I lay down a generous bead on both mating surfaces, spread to width with a plastic picnic knife, then use that knife to remove the squeeze out where required. I leave the squeezeout on all internal joints, and clean only the finish joints.

This is probably wasteful of PL, as so much winds up in a paper towel. But... there is a good sense of an air tight joint when done. I don't get air leaks in my cabs, probably because of the generous squeezeout.

[Tim A]

I don't get air leaks in my cabs, probably because of the generous squeezeout.

Exactly. If you're not getting some squeeze out you're taking a chance. Regardless of how good you are with a caulking gun.

I want to see it. Some of those joints are impossible to get at once the cab is closed up. You get one shot at them.

And no, I don't make a mess or get it on my hands. But when my customers comes to pick up their cabs, they're going to be right.