Hot or Not? Cordless Caulking Guns
By Brad Justinen
Back about six years ago, when I used to fabricate and install granite countertops, we caulked with manual guns — the fancy electronic ones weren’t available yet. During an install, we’d set the granite countertop pieces on the cabinets, align ‘em to their final position, and then lift up the pieces to caulk underneath ‘em. And the guy doing the caulking had to race to squeeze out enough caulk before my arms gave out from the insane amount of weight.
It seems that a powered caulking gun would’ve been very useful to squeeze the caulk out faster, but I’ve never used one and don’t know anyone who has. So, I’m turning to you. Do you have a battery-powered caulking gun — or maybe a pneumatic? What brand is it? Does it lay down a seriously precise bead of caulk? Or is it a heavy, cumbersome waste of money? Let us know in comments.
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April 24th, 2008 at 10:47 am
We had bought a number of pneumatic (Caulkmaster PG100) caulking guns.
The gun itself is very light - but it tethers you to the hose. This is OK when working from staging. Off of a ladder some of my troops will not take one up and prefer the old open-fame manual guns.
We just bought an Albion cordless unit to try out.
http://www.albioneng.com/landing.asp
We use other Albion products with good result - but the verdict isn’t in yet on this one. Some of my guys like it - but others complain that it’s too heavy compared to the manual gun.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:59 am
When I built my log house it required caulking between the logs. It was a two story house so I used a lot of caulk! I got two power guns (don’t remember the brand, not a major maker though) that were very light weight and attached to a power drill, thinking that I would wear out one or have a friend to help. As it turned out I didn’t wear even one out and no friends showed up to help. The cordless drills I had then didn’t hold a charge long enough to be usefull for the real work (this was 1992) so you had to drag an extension cord. With a variable speed drill they worked very well and could spit out a bead as slow or as fast as you needed.
For a medium size job these might work pretty well, as long as you had backup batteries. For something big I would prefer a cord or an air hose attached.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I did not mention before that most of our caulking and Epoxy guns are Newborn Brothers. They make a number of high thrust guns that help with squeeze-out. We also use their bulk load and sausage load guns.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:25 am
For small jobs or precise work where you need a smooth bead, I’ll take a old frame type gun any day, but when doing a large caulking job, a powered gun is where it’s at. You will wear your hand and arm out otherwise, and wind up spreading the work out much longer if it’s just you doing it.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:27 am
They used pneumatic caulking guns exclusively at the factory I worked at. In a factory the hose wasn’t a problem, and the guns put out a very precise, easily controlled bead. No idea how expensive they were though, undoubtedly more than a hand one though.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Personally, I like the powder-charged caulk guns.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
it’s a tool for women…
April 24th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I bought the Ryobi on a whim cuz it looked cool. I had some trim i had to caulk around and figured for the price it was a good excuse to play with something new. I gotta say its pretty damn nice. Its got a slider so you can change flow rates allowing for a nice smooth even bead. Also when you let go of the trigger the flow completely stops.
If youve already got the ryobi batteries id recommend it. Its only like $30 or 40 I think.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
It all depends on how much caulking you’re doing. I’ve never used one but I’m guessing they really help with froshing/hazing.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:59 am
these sure come in handy when youre laying down adhesive for a big area. i think theyre hot
April 25th, 2008 at 7:49 am
We sell a fair amount of these to professionals which I can see the definite value as they (Milwaukee 6562-21 at least) do put down a nice steady bead of caulk with ease but for a regular home owner I can’t see getting much use out of it.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Personally I think the Ryobi one (and I generally like Ryobi tools) is crap. Your choice is a lot of caulk or basically no caulk. For needing a slow stream under control, it just doesn’t do it. I wonder if the other 18v caulk guns have the same problem?
April 27th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I have the DeWalt one and yoiu have compleat control of the speed and i love it. I would not like to have to pull the compresser out for a small job.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I have the Ryobi Gun and love it. It is extemely adjustable with a slide scale. I used it this weekend to fill some gaps in my neighbors block foundation, I used 18 tubes of grout in about 2 hours, phenominal. After 2 hours with a manual gun, I am pretty sure my forearms would have exploded. Hot, in the right circumstances.
Brandon