Sealants & Adhesives

Sealants & Adhesives

Cartridge and tube products for sealing gaps and bonding without mechanical fixings, and the chemistry decides whether the joint lasts. Silicone sealant stays permanently flexible and waterproof, which makes it right for baths, showers, sinks and window frames where the joint moves and gets wet, and sanitary grades contain a fungicide to stop black mould forming in the bead. Acrylic and decorators caulk can be painted over, so it belongs where skirting, coving and architrave meet a wall. Frame sealant handles the wider external gap around windows and doors. Hybrid and MS polymer sealants bond and seal at once, work on wet surfaces and take paint, which is why they have largely replaced separate products on site. Grab adhesive replaces screws on skirting, panels, mirrors and coving, with high-tack grades holding without props. Expanding foam fills large voids and gaps around pipework and frames. Waterproof and marine adhesives cover anything permanently exposed. Cartridges are 290ml to 310ml and need a skeleton or heavy duty caulking gun.

TEC 7 is the largest range here, the Belgian MS polymer system covering the all-in-one bond and seal cartridges, cleaners and primers that trade customers buy by name. Gorilla follows with waterproof adhesives, grab adhesive, sealant and construction glue. CT1 supplies the Irish-market sealant and adhesive that bonds on wet surfaces and underwater. Bostik and Evo-Stik cover silicone, frame sealant, decorators caulk and contact adhesive, Unibond sanitary silicone and grab adhesive, and Thompsons and Stuk complete the range, with Managers own-label cartridges and JB Weld epoxy named in plain text. For glue in bottles and tubes see Glue, and for filling rather than sealing see Fillers.