Using a Caulking Gun: A Beginner's Guide

When it comes to caulking, one of the most common tools used is the caulking gun. But for those who are new to this type of DIY project, using a caulking gun can seem intimidating. In this article, we'll take you through the basics of how to use a caulking gun and provide some tips and tricks to help you achieve a smooth and professional-looking seal.

Getting Started with Your Caulking Gun

The first step in using your caulking gun is to get familiar with its different parts. Most caulking guns have a handle, a trigger or button, and a nozzle or spout. The nozzle or spout is where the caulk comes out of, and it's designed to produce a consistent bead of caulk. To start, make sure you've squeezed the gun to release any pressure, and then squeeze again just before applying the caulk.

As You Apply the Caulk

When you get close to where you want to stop, squeeze the trigger or button to release the caulk. This will help you control the amount of caulk that comes out and create a smooth, even bead. Some products can be quite sticky, so it's a good idea to use your thumb to gently press down on the nozzle or spout as you apply the caulk. This will help prevent any excess caulk from coming out.

Tips for Using Your Caulking Gun Effectively

One common mistake people make when using their caulking gun is not squeezing enough pressure before applying the caulk. This can result in a bead that's too thin and difficult to work with. To avoid this, try squeezing the gun just before you're ready to apply the caulk.

Another tip is to use the right type of caulk for your project. Some products are better suited for certain types of surfaces or applications than others. For example, latex-based caulks are often used for interior projects, while silicone-based caulks are often used for exterior projects.

Preserving Your Caulk for Later Use

If you've opened a can of caulk and don't plan on using it right away, there are a few things you can do to preserve it. Some products come with a special cap that helps seal the top of the tube and prevent air from getting in. However, these caps often don't last long and may not keep your caulk fresh for more than a couple of days.

For longer-term preservation, you can try using tape to cover the opening of the tube. Simply wrap a piece of tape around the tube where the nozzle or spout is located, and then press it firmly onto the surface. This will help seal out any air and keep your caulk fresh for a longer period of time.

What to Do If You've Run Out of Caulk

If you find yourself running low on caulk in the middle of a project, don't panic. There are a few things you can try to preserve what's left of the caulk. One option is to use a nail or other tool to gently pry out any remaining caulk from the nozzle or spout. However, be careful not to push too hard, as this can damage the tube and make it difficult to use.

In some cases, you may need to cut a bigger hole in the tube to access the remaining caulk. This can be done by carefully prying open the tube with a tool or by using a utility knife. However, this will often result in a rougher surface finish than before, so be sure to test your caulk on a small area first.

Conclusion

Using a caulking gun is a skill that takes practice, but with the right techniques and tips, you can achieve professional-looking results every time. By following these steps and tips, you'll be well on your way to becoming a caulking pro. Remember to always use the right type of caulk for your project, and don't be afraid to experiment with different techniques until you find what works best for you.

Innovative Solutions

There are also some innovative solutions available that can help make caulking easier and more efficient. For example, some products come with a special sealant that helps prevent air from getting in the tube. These seals are often made of a flexible material that can be easily removed when needed.

Another option is to use a specialized caulking gun that has a built-in sealant or a unique nozzle design that makes it easier to apply caulk. Some of these guns also come with interchangeable tips and nozzles, which can help you achieve different effects depending on the surface you're working with.

Ultimately, the key to using a caulking gun effectively is to experiment and find what works best for you. With practice and patience, you'll be able to create smooth, even beads of caulk that will last for years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Shannon from host improvements comm and today's video I want to show you how to use a caulking gun sounds pretty simple really it is but there are a few little features of caulking guns that some of you may not have found or realized they even have so first off there's a few different styles and sizes of caulking guns so you can see these these ones here all the smaller size tube and then you can also get the big mumbo jumbo huge tubes that fit that big gun like that too I'm gonna focus on these ones really all the guns basically function the same so you can see here the three kind of basic styles that you can find and in all honesty these are all my guns they all do the job there's no reason that I have certain type of style for any certain type of caulking or project or anything this is just probably what was on sale and what I bought so so you get these ones that are just basically kind of a cage style all all the guns are gonna have this little release button on the back it's kind of a friction thing that runs on this rod right this is the plunger that pushes the caulking through so you want to push that button pull your plunger right back and this is going to allow you to insert your caulking in the tube now so with this style you'd simply take your tube of caulking stick that the tube endian first swing the back end in slip your rod in you know enough that you can just to hold the tube in and you're ready to start once you open the tube I'll show you that in a minute okay these other styles some of them are a little different so get the tube out okay so same thing I've got the button here pull that back for the plunger this one you want to put the back in first drop it into the carriage slide that forward you're good to go okay this one here actually is the same as that one it's just a little different style again so pull your pull your plunger there we go pull the plunger stick the back end in drop the front move that ahead you're ready to go alright so most of these guns will have actually this is a good one because it you can kind of see it see inside of here when I squeeze the handle see that silver piece that guillotine moving back and forth there there's also a corresponding hole here on the side so if you want to open this tube and you know you just just need to get it open you can put the point of the caulking tube in there for as far as you want it it's you know further you go in the bigger hole you get let's stick that in squeeze the handle and it actually trims the end off and opens the tube up okay so a lot of the guns will have that I think well a lot of them will it's basically a spout cutter so these two do yeah this one does it's just in a little different spot it's down here on that little further panel this one here doesn't have that okay a lot of them well honestly it's not a big deal I seldom ever use that honestly because I usually just use my all tonight I'll simply use an Olfa knife and go to a piece of wood and I like to cut about a you know 25 to 45 degree angle on my tubes on my spouts and then whatever size I want one thing to think about when you before you cut that is like I said before this hole and the tube gets bigger and bigger the further you cut back here so I would always start smaller closer to the tip because you can always cut off a little more if it isn't quite big enough but once you've cut it wide open there's not much you can do about changing that I think I had a tube here here's a tube that I have used of just a construction adhesive and I've got it cut way back here because I just wanted a big old mother of a glob coming out or maybe it was even plugged up at one time and I cut more tube off just to get be able to use it again okay so that's that what else Oh a lot of them is well we'll have this little rod somewhere hidden on it like this ones in the handle this ones on the bottom of the the base or the tube carrier whatever you want to call that and that is to puncture the little seal that's inside here so if you're using a silicone type product once you've opened up the end there's an additional seal inside of here to keep air from going in if this was got opened or something and you can use that little this little rod here stick it through the end of the tube into the silicone and plunge it a couple times and it'll just break that seal so that you can you then use it again I do use these you can see there's some caulking on there or whatever this one's a little more clean this one's a real mess and in fact that one's kind of glued on there just bring some wet caulk on but so you can see they kind of get messed up so you make that puncture and then as a rule of thumb you want to try to clean that off before you fold it away because otherwise it glues itself on there or you put your hand in it or some stupid thing and pretty soon your caulking all over yourself so it's not that you can't use those features I just I don't always use them you can use a screw and nail piece of wire or whatever to do that same thing so so let's let's go ahead and use some some caulking here so we got a we've got a brand new tube now this isn't a silicone but I'm gonna poke it anyways just so you can see what what I was talking about so you can stick that in there and on this gun you can kind of see up in there what it does I cut that off now that's why I don't use these cutters too much as they don't always leave real nice cut if you're just you know cutting open uh some adhesive or something it really doesn't matter how it puts the bead on so that point doesn't have to be perfect if I'm doing caulking or silicone no I kind of like this the end of this tube to be a little nicer just leaves a little nicer finish as it comes out of the tube okay so you did that like I said this this is caulking so it doesn't actually need to be plunged but I just want to show you what you do stick that in there just give it a couple plunges you can see as I pulled it out it's going to have caulking silicone whatever on it I don't have rag here clean that off so I don't get it all over me okay so I've got my my caulking open ready to use I can insert it in the gun now I'm basically ready to go now I've got a little example here of just putting some caulking and now when you have a new tube and you've just opened it the tube out here isn't the SPO it isn't full of caulking or silicone yet so it's going to take a few you know a couple three pumps or whatever to get it to start coming out you can see it now there okay so you you know you it's not going to come out immediately until you get it primed up there and ready to go so you've got your product ready to go start in your corner wherever you want to do it and you're gonna regulate the flow of material by how often how hard you squeeze the handle okay so the combination of that and how quickly you're moving along the work determines kind of what your beads gonna look like okay so you got to kind of figure that out for the material you're using maybe you want to get a little extra here you can change your angle and really get a bigger bead out out there that sort of thing now when you get close to where you're wanting to stop I'm not sure if you've seen that camera guy so I was squeezing here and as I got close to where I wanted to stop I just reach up with my thumb and I hit this release just to get the pressure off the plunger so it allows this plunger to kind of back off a little bit take the pressure off inside here to slow it down or stop it from coming out of the end of this spout some products what I find and I've actually had this comment on a lot of videos that I don't know how to use a caulking gun because I've set my caulking gun down and went to pick it up or whatever and it's it's whose dough little bit here well some products just do that because you get a buildup of pressure going and even though you've hit this you've taken the main pressure off but it still got a little bit of pressure there and wants to ease out a bit or it's a really liquid liquid type product that you're using so but if you push this get in the habit of pushing that when you're done you're your bead or whatever you can pull it back a little bit just to really make sure the pressure is off it'll help some products will still lose out so you want to kind of set it somewhere where it's not going to get on something that you don't want it on you know maybe you got a rig sitting there something just to set it on when you're not using it okay so you've ran that bead of whatever and you're gonna tool it or do whatever you want with it with your finger or whatever you want no I just made a real mess of that it was kind of already skimming over so but this video is about how to use the gun okay I think that's the main things I can show you when you are done with your caulking there's a few different ways you can try to preserve it for a bit of time it does still have a shelf life most of them once you've opened it so some of them will come with this little cap that you snap on there for the most part I don't find those caps seal well enough to keep it for any more than a couple days without really skimming over and getting hard so they do make a few different products that you can insert in there this one's got a rubber cap with a with a shaft on it to make a better seal there's some that are just basically like a little condom you roll on there a few different things like that you can always just take some tape you know when you usually got some tape kicking her out just take a bit of tape you know wrap it around the spout get a good seal wrap it around itself seal it up that'll usually work just about as good as anything so but when the time comes and you open it up and you know you look at all geez it's all dried and you know it's not gonna come out of there whatever sometimes what you have to do the only thing you got left you can try plunging it with a nail or whatever but usually all that does because of the shape of the spout here just pushes that plug down you think you got it working you just get started the plug eventually works back up here and seals it up again on you so a lot of times what you have to do is cut a bigger hole so that you can actually get that dried up plug that's in the end there just to pop out so but then that usually means you're not going to have this fine of a tip to okay so really basic but I think still important just shows you the basic functions and options that you can get for guns and it'll make your your caulking jobs that much easier when you know how everything works so I appreciate you watching and hopefully I know this was a really simple DIY video but let's face it there's going to be some people out there that didn't know some of these things so I hope you enjoyed the video hope it was informative please click the thumbs up icon for us it'll help a lot and we we've got Facebook we've got Twitter if you want to follow me on any of those things you can subscribe to our channel little button down below says subscribe you can also give us a small donation on our patreon or PayPal accounts if you want to there's a link for those in the descriptions of the video thanks a lot for watching hi I'm Shannon from host improvements comm and in today's video I'm going to show you how to use a caulking gun so I've got holy mackerel I've got a real brain fart going on today mmm that's good time you know isn't ithi I'm Shannon from host improvements comm and today's video I want to show you how to use a caulking gun sounds pretty simple really it is but there are a few little features of caulking guns that some of you may not have found or realized they even have so first off there's a few different styles and sizes of caulking guns so you can see these these ones here all the smaller size tube and then you can also get the big mumbo jumbo huge tubes that fit that big gun like that too I'm gonna focus on these ones really all the guns basically function the same so you can see here the three kind of basic styles that you can find and in all honesty these are all my guns they all do the job there's no reason that I have certain type of style for any certain type of caulking or project or anything this is just probably what was on sale and what I bought so so you get these ones that are just basically kind of a cage style all all the guns are gonna have this little release button on the back it's kind of a friction thing that runs on this rod right this is the plunger that pushes the caulking through so you want to push that button pull your plunger right back and this is going to allow you to insert your caulking in the tube now so with this style you'd simply take your tube of caulking stick that the tube endian first swing the back end in slip your rod in you know enough that you can just to hold the tube in and you're ready to start once you open the tube I'll show you that in a minute okay these other styles some of them are a little different so get the tube out okay so same thing I've got the button here pull that back for the plunger this one you want to put the back in first drop it into the carriage slide that forward you're good to go okay this one here actually is the same as that one it's just a little different style again so pull your pull your plunger there we go pull the plunger stick the back end in drop the front move that ahead you're ready to go alright so most of these guns will have actually this is a good one because it you can kind of see it see inside of here when I squeeze the handle see that silver piece that guillotine moving back and forth there there's also a corresponding hole here on the side so if you want to open this tube and you know you just just need to get it open you can put the point of the caulking tube in there for as far as you want it it's you know further you go in the bigger hole you get let's stick that in squeeze the handle and it actually trims the end off and opens the tube up okay so a lot of the guns will have that I think well a lot of them will it's basically a spout cutter so these two do yeah this one does it's just in a little different spot it's down here on that little further panel this one here doesn't have that okay a lot of them well honestly it's not a big deal I seldom ever use that honestly because I usually just use my all tonight I'll simply use an Olfa knife and go to a piece of wood and I like to cut about a you know 25 to 45 degree angle on my tubes on my spouts and then whatever size I want one thing to think about when you before you cut that is like I said before this hole and the tube gets bigger and bigger the further you cut back here so I would always start smaller closer to the tip because you can always cut off a little more if it isn't quite big enough but once you've cut it wide open there's not much you can do about changing that I think I had a tube here here's a tube that I have used of just a construction adhesive and I've got it cut way back here because I just wanted a big old mother of a glob coming out or maybe it was even plugged up at one time and I cut more tube off just to get be able to use it again okay so that's that what else Oh a lot of them is well we'll have this little rod somewhere hidden on it like this ones in the handle this ones on the bottom of the the base or the tube carrier whatever you want to call that and that is to puncture the little seal that's inside here so if you're using a silicone type product once you've opened up the end there's an additional seal inside of here to keep air from going in if this was got opened or something and you can use that little this little rod here stick it through the end of the tube into the silicone and plunge it a couple times and it'll just break that seal so that you can you then use it again I do use these you can see there's some caulking on there or whatever this one's a little more clean this one's a real mess and in fact that one's kind of glued on there just bring some wet caulk on but so you can see they kind of get messed up so you make that puncture and then as a rule of thumb you want to try to clean that off before you fold it away because otherwise it glues itself on there or you put your hand in it or some stupid thing and pretty soon your caulking all over yourself so it's not that you can't use those features I just I don't always use them you can use a screw and nail piece of wire or whatever to do that same thing so so let's let's go ahead and use some some caulking here so we got a we've got a brand new tube now this isn't a silicone but I'm gonna poke it anyways just so you can see what what I was talking about so you can stick that in there and on this gun you can kind of see up in there what it does I cut that off now that's why I don't use these cutters too much as they don't always leave real nice cut if you're just you know cutting open uh some adhesive or something it really doesn't matter how it puts the bead on so that point doesn't have to be perfect if I'm doing caulking or silicone no I kind of like this the end of this tube to be a little nicer just leaves a little nicer finish as it comes out of the tube okay so you did that like I said this this is caulking so it doesn't actually need to be plunged but I just want to show you what you do stick that in there just give it a couple plunges you can see as I pulled it out it's going to have caulking silicone whatever on it I don't have rag here clean that off so I don't get it all over me okay so I've got my my caulking open ready to use I can insert it in the gun now I'm basically ready to go now I've got a little example here of just putting some caulking and now when you have a new tube and you've just opened it the tube out here isn't the SPO it isn't full of caulking or silicone yet so it's going to take a few you know a couple three pumps or whatever to get it to start coming out you can see it now there okay so you you know you it's not going to come out immediately until you get it primed up there and ready to go so you've got your product ready to go start in your corner wherever you want to do it and you're gonna regulate the flow of material by how often how hard you squeeze the handle okay so the combination of that and how quickly you're moving along the work determines kind of what your beads gonna look like okay so you got to kind of figure that out for the material you're using maybe you want to get a little extra here you can change your angle and really get a bigger bead out out there that sort of thing now when you get close to where you're wanting to stop I'm not sure if you've seen that camera guy so I was squeezing here and as I got close to where I wanted to stop I just reach up with my thumb and I hit this release just to get the pressure off the plunger so it allows this plunger to kind of back off a little bit take the pressure off inside here to slow it down or stop it from coming out of the end of this spout some products what I find and I've actually had this comment on a lot of videos that I don't know how to use a caulking gun because I've set my caulking gun down and went to pick it up or whatever and it's it's whose dough little bit here well some products just do that because you get a buildup of pressure going and even though you've hit this you've taken the main pressure off but it still got a little bit of pressure there and wants to ease out a bit or it's a really liquid liquid type product that you're using so but if you push this get in the habit of pushing that when you're done you're your bead or whatever you can pull it back a little bit just to really make sure the pressure is off it'll help some products will still lose out so you want to kind of set it somewhere where it's not going to get on something that you don't want it on you know maybe you got a rig sitting there something just to set it on when you're not using it okay so you've ran that bead of whatever and you're gonna tool it or do whatever you want with it with your finger or whatever you want no I just made a real mess of that it was kind of already skimming over so but this video is about how to use the gun okay I think that's the main things I can show you when you are done with your caulking there's a few different ways you can try to preserve it for a bit of time it does still have a shelf life most of them once you've opened it so some of them will come with this little cap that you snap on there for the most part I don't find those caps seal well enough to keep it for any more than a couple days without really skimming over and getting hard so they do make a few different products that you can insert in there this one's got a rubber cap with a with a shaft on it to make a better seal there's some that are just basically like a little condom you roll on there a few different things like that you can always just take some tape you know when you usually got some tape kicking her out just take a bit of tape you know wrap it around the spout get a good seal wrap it around itself seal it up that'll usually work just about as good as anything so but when the time comes and you open it up and you know you look at all geez it's all dried and you know it's not gonna come out of there whatever sometimes what you have to do the only thing you got left you can try plunging it with a nail or whatever but usually all that does because of the shape of the spout here just pushes that plug down you think you got it working you just get started the plug eventually works back up here and seals it up again on you so a lot of times what you have to do is cut a bigger hole so that you can actually get that dried up plug that's in the end there just to pop out so but then that usually means you're not going to have this fine of a tip to okay so really basic but I think still important just shows you the basic functions and options that you can get for guns and it'll make your your caulking jobs that much easier when you know how everything works so I appreciate you watching and hopefully I know this was a really simple DIY video but let's face it there's going to be some people out there that didn't know some of these things so I hope you enjoyed the video hope it was informative please click the thumbs up icon for us it'll help a lot and we we've got Facebook we've got Twitter if you want to follow me on any of those things you can subscribe to our channel little button down below says subscribe you can also give us a small donation on our patreon or PayPal accounts if you want to there's a link for those in the descriptions of the video thanks a lot for watching hi I'm Shannon from host improvements comm and in today's video I'm going to show you how to use a caulking gun so I've got holy mackerel I've got a real brain fart going on today mmm that's good time you know isn't it\n"