Air powered caulk gun

[Mike Henderson]

I have a flooring job coming up where I'll have to dispense quite a bit of glue (like liquid nails) and would like to purchase an air powered caulk gun. Can anyone give some recommendations on which one to buy?

I don't expect to need it in the future - it's a one shot job so I don't want to buy the top-of-the-line gun.

Thanks in advance for your advice and suggestions.

Mike

P.S I'm going to be laying some sheeting over an existing floor and attaching it with air driven staples. I'll put the glue down before laying the sheeting to provide a better bond and try to avoid floor squeeks. I'll have one air hose at high pressure (for the staple gun) so I'd like a caulk gun that can take the high pressure - so I can hook up the caulk gun, lay the glue, then switch to the stapler and fasten it down.

[Dan Rude]

They all work the same and do a good job for caulk (campbell Hausfeld PL1558 air Powered caulk gun), I have not had good luck doing glue with mine. (Specifcally I was using Loctite power grab) I have the regular tube version, they do come that handle the large tubes. The liquid nails might work better. One of the electric ones might work better, Milwaukee Tools cordless caulk/adhesive gun.

[Mike Peschka]

I'll have one air hose at high pressure (for the staple gun) so I'd like a caulk gun that can take the high pressure - so I can hook up the caulk gun, lay the glue, then switch to the stapler and fasten it down.

You really need to put an inline regulator on the caulk gun, otherwise, it'll make quite a mess. I recently did a bathroom renovation and used an air-powered caulk gun (Cooper CaulkMaster). It worked great, except for the one time I forgot and left the regulator at full pressure. With Liquid Nails in the CaulkMaster, I found about 10-20 psi was all that was needed. Step it up to 30, and you start laying down material a lot faster than I can keep up with. The other advantage of an inline regulator on the gun is that you don't have to keep running back to the compressor if you need to make adjustments.

- Mike

[Rick Lizek]

You might want to consider a manual caulking gun but a high ratio type used for Epoxy. We went through air and battery caulking guns and when I discovered the high ratio guns we switched to those. Fastenal sells a 26/1 ratio gun for $30. Most folks don't even know there are different ratio caulking guns available.

[Larry Edgerton]

I use large tubes and warm the tubes before using to lower the viscosity to make it easier to work the gun.

I tried an air and hated it, too much of a mess I thought, and I have a small electric, but never use it. I use Cox guns from england mostly, good controlable guns but not so costly that it hurts if they fall and break.

For what you are doing I use bucket flooring glue and a notched trowel.

[Jason Roehl]

Mike, I agree with Larry. If you're gluing down sheet goods, go with a bucket of glue and a notched trowel. If you use tubes of Liquid Nails or the equivalent, any staple placed between the lines of glue has the potential to squeak when that small section of floor flexes as you put weight on it.

Personally, I'd skip the glue. Lay the sheeting (how thick?), then walk all over it listening for loose spots. If you find one, shoot some more staples into that spot at odd angles, or screw it down there (for sheeting > 1/4").

[Roger Bullock]

I used an air powered caulking gun to lay down a bead on floor joist prior to laying down sub-flooring when building new homes. Like the others say, if pressure is not right it can get messy in a hurry. Its easy to get too much in one spot and not enough in others. Your staples may not have enough power to flatten and level out the caulking which can cause the top floor to become out of level.
As far as staples go, I'm not a big fan. A lot of squeaks happen over time when the lumber or plywood shrinks due to drying and allowing the staple to lose its grip. I would go with screws and plenty of them.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

What everybody else said.

I used one a number of years ago and you'd use it and think

"Wow! this is cool!", pick it up a few minutes later and think

"This is the most stupid invention, EVER!"

[Greg Portland]

As far as staples go, I'm not a big fan. A lot of squeaks happen over time when the lumber or plywood shrinks due to drying and allowing the staple to lose its grip. I would go with screws and plenty of them.

+1. Screws + glue are the only way to go IMO if you want to prevent squeaks. There are air-nailers that can shoot screws, I'm not sure if they are recommended for this application or not. You can also look into renting one of those standing screw guns (walk along and shoot screws versus crawl around).

[Jerome Stanek]

I would not use glue I would use rosin paper or felt the the sheeting screwed down. I have done this with no squeaks and that was done 30 years ago

[Roger Bullock]

I agree with Jerome, laying down felt (15 # roofing felt) will take a lot of squeaks out. We always used it prior to installing hardwood floors.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Mike, if you want to borrow my Kobalt Air Powered Caulk gun to give it a try you're more than welcome to PM me. I've been meaning to go to one of your woodcraft classes or ask you to help me sharpen this Japanese chisel that I cracked the tip off of... (I'm terrible with hand tools)

Anyways it's Item #: 256683 | Model #: J-6901-135

I havn't even used it yet and probably won't for years... Lowes was clearancing them out for $3 each about a month ago so I couldn't resist.

Actually Lowes seems like they are clearancing EVERY air tool that they sell however the discount wasn't very big. (10-15%). The longer you wait, the more limited the qty's but the better the deals.

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Sounds like using screws is preferred and if I use glue, spread it with a notched trowel.

I'll let you know how it comes out.

Mike

[Robert Reece]

I layed down about 2000 sq ft of 1/2 ply over 3/4 plank subflooring (old house). I removed all the nails from the plank flooring and replaced them with screws. Then I put one big tube of glue down per sheet of 1/2 ply. Then I shot staples on about a 6" grid. I have zero squeaks. Just make sure you stand on the plywood as you are shooting it. You weight will smash it down pretty good and those staples are tenacious. I disagree with the others who said staples won't hold that well over time. I had to remove some ply that I had shot down with staples years before and it was tough to get it up. I had to end up getting my big 6' digging bar under it.

Getting the glue down was kind of a pain, but not too bad. Good for the forearms.

One other thing - laying down the much glue will make get high in a hurry. So make sure you have some fresh air coming in.