Even if you’re an experienced tradesperson, it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right sealant for the task in hand. Here, we detail all the major sealant and adhesive types, as well as the applications they best suit.
When looking to choose a suitable sealant, installers must first consider the type of job that they’re working on. Take for example a glazing job, which requires a sealant with a degree of elasticity to cope with movement in the joint. Similarly, when working on bathroom applications, installers should try to use sealants with high levels of durability and mould resistance.
Therefore, when looking to find the right solution, it’s important to first consider the task in hand. Understanding what makes each form of sealant solution unique will help in the decision-making process and enable you to deliver long-lasting, high-quality finishes.
Here are some of the main chemistry types that should be on your radar:
Silicone sealants are ideal for more general tasks and adhere well to a wide range of construction substrates. As well as being versatile, these products have excellent UV and colour stability and offer exceptional temperature and water resistance. Similarly, this form of sealant performs well in terms of elasticity and durability. A great example is our Trade Mate Glazing Seal solution, which has been designed to allow movement, has a long service life and will not crack.
When you’re looking to do jointing, caulking or filling gaps, then it’s best to choose an acrylic solution, like our Painters Mate Flexible Filler. The high-performing solution has been designed to work well on plastered walls, masonry and wood. Better still, the solution can be overpainted in just one hour, which can help with speeding up work on-site.
In case of emergency, it’s normally best to have a triploymer solution to hand, like our Trade Mate All Weather Seal. This type of sealant offers excellent adhesion even in wet conditions and can cure to form a flexible seal with a high movement capability. Ideal for repairs and emergency remedial work, triploymer solutions also provide a high gloss finish that can be overpainted.
Next, there are a number of specialist sealants, that are formulated for instances where a more general-purpose sealant is not suitable. For example, our Trade Mare Fire Block Seal is a specialist fire cement formulated to withstand temperatures of up to 1500°C. It does not require a primer and is also overpaintable for ultimate flexibility. Likewise, Trade Mate Plumber Flue is designed to create a flexible, high-strength seal and be exposed to temperatures up to 250°C for use on applications such as gas flues, Aga range cookers and ovens.
Trade Mate Lead and Gutter Seal is another example that has been specially formulated for adhesion to lead flashing, as well as brickwork and most common guttering system materials, including metals, plastics, painted surfaces and PVC-U.
MS Polymer products feature many of the same attributes as alternatives – with the paintability of acrylics and the flexibility and UV stability of silicone – however, they also have additional benefits, which make them very versatile. As a result, MS Polymers such as THE WORKS PRO, which works as both a sealant and an adhesive, are a great choice when looking to deal with small odd jobs on-site.
Most notably, MS Polymer sealants can be used directly on to wet or dry surfaces, including most plastics, tiles, wood, stone, metal, glass, concrete, roofing materials and many more. If you’re in the trade, it’s often best to keep one in the back of your van, as you’ll never know when you might end up needing it.
In this field, THE WORKS PRO stands out as the gold standard. The multi-purpose solution can be used to bond, or seal virtually any material. What’s more, over its lifetime, joints bonded with the product will suffer no shrinkage and will offer excellent UV and weather resistance. As such, you can rely on it to deliver long-lasting results first time around.
Hopefully this blog has helped to make the process of selecting sealant and adhesive products a little bit easier. Of course, finding a suitable sealant solution is only half the battle, it’s also important to make sure you’re investing in high-quality products from a reputable supplier. With over 30 years of technical expertise, Geocel certainly fits this description.
By choosing Geocel, installers are gaining access to an extensive collection of solutions, which have built their popularity off the back of the reliable results they deliver. With dedicated R&D and production facilities in the UK, our product range is designed to meet the needs of the trade with products that perform even in the most demanding conditions.
