I’m wondering how vinyl adhesive caulk works for gluing foam and track down. I found some Phenoseal vinyl adhesive caulk at my Home Depot recently and it looked like it would do the job well. Does anyone have any experience with it? There are a lot of posts talking about the latex stuff, but I couldn’t find any talking about vinyl.
Why bother with vinyl if latex works so well?
Rich
You’re the first person I have ever heard mention vinyl adhesive caulk. There must be a good reason why no one has used it for layouts.
If you decide to try it, let us know how it turns out.
First question, is it foam compatible?
Good luck,
Richard
Phenoseal, the popular brand name of the vinyl adhesive caulk is quite similar to DAP Quickseal. I have used the product for a number of years, but only for it’s real intended purpose, (bonding vanity tops, FRP fiberglass panel moldings, certain bonding of wood moldings where other glues won’t do, or where a somewhat flexable slight water resistent bond is needed or where Liquid nail or carpenter’s glue won’t work). It will bond quite well, however the product can go “old” easily even for an unopened tube, it skins quickly and will not spread that well. I have even stopped using the product recently for woodworking/ caulking as it seems the formula has been changed. DAP Alex Plus is far better for trackwork (securing roadbed/ track).
I like the latex because, among other things, it is water based cleanup. It is also fairly easy to remove from my hands and fingers and even tools such as spatulas once it dries.
I am less sure whether vinyl is water based cleanup.
I would also wonder about the odor of vinyl – not that the latex caulk smells pretty, but it is reasonably mild and unobjectionable, or at least, the odor does not invade the living quarters upstairs and bring questions and comments from She Who Must Be Obeyed.
I also know from my own experience that the latex caulk lasts.
But what I am really saying might be nothing more than I like what I am familiar with. If someone tries vinyl we all would be interested in their report.
Dave Nelson
Phenoseal is water cleanup before drying, has little or no odor and provides an extremely strong, and is foam safe yet provides a flexable bond. But as I mention earlier, it is not really suitable for track laying purposes as it will skin/ thicken rather quickly and won’t spread as desired to lay track. The Phenoseal is almost $5 a tube as compared to $2-3 for the DAP Alex Plus (blue) no need for the (green)