is paintable acrylic sealant better than decorators caulk?

[Bucks]

As the title asks is paintable acrylic sealant better than decorators caulk?

I have just bought a tube of the Dulux trade paintable acrylic sealer, I'm hoping that this will be better than caulk for filling / sealing the gaps around some new skirting boards & door frames that I will then be painting with the dulux water based satinwood.

In the past I have used a few different caulks & they all seem to crack & split, I have opened the tube & it seems very runny compared to the caulks I have used.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

 

[TheDec]

Bucks.

There is a myth in relation to fillers, caulks, and sealants. That can often seem misleading.

The innovation of Acrylic products within the trade are fast surpassing their oil based counterparts. Anyway enough of my drivel and back to the point.

Acrylic sealants retain more flex than both fillers and caulk alike, so in answer to your question, yes, stick with the sealant.

Dec.

 

[opps]

do you mean this stuff?

http://www.duluxdecoratorcentre.co.uk/servlet/ProductHandler?code=DDC300214

I have never used t and know very little about it. I'd always assumed that caulk contained acrylic resins???

I see that it needs 24 hours before over painting.

I too get fed up with caulk cracking. The only brand that I have found which is less prone to this is the everbuild 125- £1 at toolstation.

Overcoating with BIN will stop cracking in caulk.

Let us know how you get on with the dulux stuff, also with regard to shrinkage and feathering.

 

[Bucks]

Thanks Guys for your replies, its much appreciated.

Opps, yes thats the stuff, it does say paintable after 24 hours but if it is going to be better than caulk I would rather wait the 24 hours.
I have some Zinsser BIN so can put a coat of that on if needed.

I will let let you know how I get on, but what exactly is feathering?

THANKS again for the help Guys

 

[Bucks]

One more question,

It says on the tube under limitations "Painting over with highly filled paints can cause cracks in paint film"

What is "highly filled paint"? I'm assuming it is the realy thick paints like Dulux Once etc & hoping that the dulux trade paints are not "highly filled" I am now starting to use the Dulux Trade water based Diamond Satinwood.

 

[TheDec]

Bucks.

Not 100% on this one, but I think the term you describe refers to intumescant systems "Fire Retardant Paints".

 

[Bucks]

Sorry another question,

Do you recon that this acrylic sealer would be ok / do a decent job of filling gaps in the woodwork, ie internal corners on dado & skirting's & where they but up to architrave etc, the gaps are anything from nothing to about 4mm max.

 

[TheDec]

Bucks.

No need to say sorry i'm only to glad to help.

Yes I do, it tends to have greater flexibility, opps raised a good point that caulks in general contained acrylic resins.

There has to be a certain amount before specific products can be called such, it's all to with such things as resins, polymers, copolymers and the like.

Dec.

 

[opps]

Hi Bucks

By feathering I was refering to the smoothness of the outer parts, the way that it tapers off without the need for bucket loads of spit/water.

One more question,

It says on the tube under limitations "Painting over with highly filled paints can cause cracks in paint film"

What is "highly filled paint"? I'm assuming it is the realy thick paints like Dulux Once etc & hoping that the dulux trade paints are not "highly filled" I am now starting to use the Dulux Trade water based Diamond Satinwood.

This is quite worrying- it is a get out clause- "if you use a decent paint with a high level of solids our product may crack, eg emulsion". I was spun the same line by someone at dow cornings once- after that I decided it was time to stop using Painters Mate.

I would expect that your paints will be ok as they are flexible for longer than emulsion.

 

[Bucks]

Thanks again Guys for both your help, its much appreciated

The woodwork has all had two coats of the Diamond Satinwood, I then papered the walls yesterday with blown vinyl, today I have done all the filling with this paintable acrylic.

I want to put another one or two more coats of satinwood on the woodwork, am I better doing this before I emulsion the walls, as I imagine it would be easier to cut in the emulsion rather than the satinwood, also if I get any emulsion on the satinwood I hope that it will wipe of easily,
I am planning on protecting the skirting & dado while I do the bulk of the emulsion with a roller then when it is dry paint around the woodwork with a brush.

Does this sound about right, or should I be doing the emulsion before the woodwork?

 

[Ianthedecorator]

Firstly acylic sealent and decorators caulk are basicly the same thing ! in the early eighties as a decorators apprentist ,we always got the job of mixing what we call powder filler ,it was the worse job ever you could get ,as when you had it mixed the only way to apply it was with your finger ,must of ripped my fingers to bits hundreds of times on pins ,nails etc on skirting boards etc ,later on in the lare 80,s decorators caulk came out ,most decorators were abit apprehensive but within 6 months they all seen the light ! and we avnt looked back since ,also within minutes of putting caulk in ,just paint it ! and the way you apply is this ,take nozzle off ,use a large kitchen knife and cut the tube open ,refix nozzle but dont cut the nozzle tip at a angle ,cut it straight across as this makes it ten times easier to apply ,once caulk is in the gap ,hole etc ,wet your finger and wipe the caulk in ,also caulk can be use to glue heavy wallpapers back ,if to be painted ,and also if you have a larger area to stick back ,cut a full tube open ,empty in a dish ,bowl etc and mix down with warm water ,i makes a excellent glue for problems papers etc .ps you will find you wipe the excess caulk off on your overalls ,so a word of warning do not put them in your washing machine as the caulk solidifies in washer drain ,pump etc !

 

[joinerjohn]

One more question,

It says on the tube under limitations "Painting over with highly filled paints can cause cracks in paint film"

What is "highly filled paint"? I'm assuming it is the realy thick paints like Dulux Once etc & hoping that the dulux trade paints are not "highly filled" I am now starting to use the Dulux Trade water based Diamond Satinwood.

"Dulux Once"

I wonder if I could get them done under the Trade Descriptions Act

 

[Ianthedecorator]

Dulux once is only any good on perfect allready painted woodwork esp white on white etc,apart from that its useless ! also heavy filled paint refers to the amount of chalk in the paint ,its really a gimmick on behalf of dulux to extract a lot of money from diy customers as no professional decorator would touch it ,it just isnt cost effective to buy in the amounts we would use .

 

[Nige F]

Caulking Hell . I`ve learned somrthing from this thread. -No more cheapo caulk for me , Cheers Guys

 

[TheDec]

Paints such as once & solo rely on a number of factors regarding both finish and longevity.

These paints are termed as thixotropic, while left undisturbed they will remain to be semi solid. However when in anyway agitated they become a liquid.

These paints if used and applied on the correct substrate should not be dismissed.

Dec.