DIY Made Easy

If you are doing a small job, you might need a great sealant applicator tool or a mini caulking gun. Do not be deceived as these might not be as enormous as the more traditional caulking guns, but they are for heavy industrial use, too. In another blog, we mentioned that the higher the thrust ratio, the better the tool. While you can use a lower thrust caulking gun, it may not work well with sealants of higher viscosity. Either it would not come out of the canister at all or you have to make several trigger presses just  to make it flow. 

Let us now look at the various types of caulking guns. 

Mini Caulking Gun and Other Types of Caulking Gun

10-oz. Rod Caulk Gun

Most rod caulk guns have a moderate thrust ratio at 13:1, which can be used for general-purpose caulking. It is also easy to use because it is not as long as regular caulking guns. It is probably the closest you can get to a mini caulking gun. They can be used for caulk cartridges from 10 to 10.3 oz.

29-oz Heavy Duty Caulk Gun

 this is simply a larger version of the 10-oz caulk gun and has pretty much the same features. The only difference is that it can handle a lot more caulk because its frame can fit a 29 oz canister. Usually, they come with a rotatable barrel, a ladder hook, a seal puncture wire and a nozzle cutter. This type of gun is seldom use when doing DIY work as it is more suited for big construction work.

Sausage Gun

 if you do not like wasting your caulk, one option is to use a sausage gun. This is so-called because instead of the tip of the caulk cartridge protruding, as is the case with many mini caulking guns or heavy-duty guns, the caulk is dispensed through a hole shaped like that of a sausage maker. There is also no need to reshape the nozzle after each reload because they are separate from the product packaging.

Cordless Caulking Gun

in case you want something powered by batteries, then you can also go for cordless caulking guns. The only disadvantage is that you can run out of batteries and it would not work manually. So, in cases like these, it is better to keep a mini caulking gun handy.

Mini Caulking Gun

This is perhaps the most beneficial on this list. What it does is combine the features of all the above into one. The advantage of a mini caulking gun is that it is lightweight and compact. While all those mentioned above are rather bulky, they all serve their purposes, too. What makes the mini caulking gun special is that it can be very portable. For example, a friend asks you to do work at his house, you can easily bring out this tool and put it in any toolbox you have, without the need to think of space! Siliguns has its patented caulking gun which is pretty interesting to check out.

Now that you know the types of caulking guns you will be working with, let us give you tips that could surely save your life when working with caulking guns. 

Three Tips When Caulking

1. Use a drip-free gun - Siliguns offers a dripless mini caulking gun on the website which you might want to check out. There are considerable benefits to using a drip-free gun, including reducing the amount of wasted caulk or sealant. When using a dripless gun's trigger, it releases the canister after each push, therefore also easing the pressure and retracting any caulk back into the canister. This result in less, if any, drips at all. Standards guns work contrary to this, by keeping the pressure on, thereby making it easy for the sealant to leak thru.  While caulk canisters are only about $3 a pop, over time the price could add up. Also, any drips could result in a messier finish, which does not look professional at all. You are in full control when laying down a bead of caulk. It also just costs a few dollars more than a standard gun and that price difference is worth the investment.
2. Move fast - when you move fast and in a consistent manner, you will be able to make a nice finish all the time. It is often difficult to match the speed of the caulking with how fast you are going through the corner you are trying to seal. If this happens, you either get a thin layer, if you are moving too fast, or a thick layer, if you are moving too slow. It will take some time with practice but you will eventually find your pacing. A mini caulking gun will help reduce some job uneasiness through its high thrust ratio as it can work with higher viscosity caulks like polyurethane, with very minimal manual effort on your end.
3. Use a soap-water mixture when tooling - tooling is the process of pushing the sealant, usually with your fingers to improve adhesion between the caulk and the side of the joint. The job does not finish after you use your mini caulking gun. In order to make tooling a lot easier, spray the area with a soap-water mixture so that when you run your fingers through the line of caulk, it does not stick to your fingers.

Summary

We taught you how a mini caulking gun compares and contrast with other types of caulking guns and we have also established that the former can be more superior when working at odd angles or when equipment portability is a concern. A mini caulking gun is also useful because it is not so heavy and thus, allows more work to be done. More traditional guns are heavier, making the muscles work harder. 

Finally, we also provided you some tips that you can use to maximize time and effort when doing caulking work. Remember to use a drip-free gun, move fast and consistently and do not forget the soap and water mixture that will definitely change your experience when caulking.