Replies

1. 
   RalphBarker | Jan 12, 2011 11:09am | #1

   constuction adhesive

   It seems to me that construction adhesive is sort of the drive-by-robbing member of the glue family - that is, the quick stick-up artist. It's great for (hidden) carpentry applications where the thickness of the adhesive isn't an issue, but less well-suited for furniture applications.

1. 
   Westchester | Jan 12, 2011 01:20pm | #2

   Glues

   I think construction adhesive works with the chaulking guns better -

   SA

1. 
   RalphBarker | Jan 12, 2011 02:09pm | #3

   Chuckle. So . . .

    . . . if you had a "full-auto" caulking gun, would it make a sound like splata-splat-splat-splat?

1. 
   Westchester | Jan 12, 2011 02:24pm | #4

   Fancy Tools

   The only thing that's auto around here  are the bills  and tax estimates -  they never forget to send invoices -

   No matter how bad my work is - I still deduct the materials :>)

   SA

2. 
   Yuri2 | Jan 19, 2011 04:51pm | #5

   Actually, I use construction glue for some situations in woodworking. It is PL Heavy Duty Polyuretane construction glue.

    Well, here is why:

   • more open time;

   • it has some filling properties, if surfaces are no even or rough;

   • water resistent;

   • easier to clean on surface once dry without problem with furthe finishing.

   That glue is similar to  Gorilla glue, they are both polyuretane, but PL shows much less foaming, besides less expensive.

3. 
   Jfrostjr | Jan 19, 2011 05:20pm | #6

   Construction adhesive

   Glad to hear from you.

   Naturally I VERY rarely use construction adhesive on furniture, actually only once. It is waterproof and does have tolerance for less than a perfect fit on glue-blocks etc.

   I wonder if there is something about the difference between a "glue" and an "adhesive"?

   Frosty

    

4. 
   zolton | Jan 20, 2011 09:04am | #7

   Construction adhesive

   Frosty,

   As a former carpenter, I'm very familiar with construction adhesive, and recently found a use for it in my shop.

   Like many of us, I'm sure, I'm called on sometimes to fix inexpensive chairs that have come apart. I had a client bring in a faux Windsor a few months ago, with broken and loose spindles. Her budget to fix the chair was extremely low.

   The spindles in the back were loose in their round mortises. If this had been a better chair I would have carefully cleaned the glue off the ends of the spindles and from inside the sockets, and wrapped thin wood shavings and glue around the tenons. Then I would have re-fit the spindles into their sockets, one by one. But there were a lot of loose spindles and my client couldn't afford to have that done.

   So, I did an experiment with construction adhesive, some 1/4 inch dowels and a 2x4. I drilled holes of various sizes in the 2x4, from 1/4 inch up to 3/8 of an inch. Then I filled the  holes with construction adhesive and short sections of the 1/4 inch dowels.

   After I let everything set up for a couple of days, I tried to remove the dowels from their holes. I rocked them from side to side, then tried to pull them out with my fingers. Nothing budged. I then used pliers to do the same thing - with the same result. I twisted the dowels and yanked, pounded on them with a hammer, and the joints failed only when the dowels splintered. Although the wood broke apart, the adhesive remained intact. That was good enough for me.

   So I cleaned the glue off the spindles and roughed them up slightly with 150 grit sandpaper. I cleaned out the glue from the mortises, then filled them with construction adhesive. After reassembling everything, I clamped it up overnight, cleaned off the squeeze-out in the morning, and gave it back to my client the next day. She was pleased with the repair and pleased that it didn't cost her more than the chair was worth.

   One thing of value I learned is that the long open-working time of the construction adhesive allowed me to do a comprehensive, un-rushed job of clamping the chair; a task I've always found difficult.

   I'm not sure I'd use construction adhesive on new work, where I have the opportunity to create good, tight joints that work well with regular wood glues. But the gap-filling and strength properties of construction adhesive did work well in this instance.

   And, for those of you who might be aghast at my possibly screwing up a valuable Windsor with dodgy repair methodology, the underside of the seat was stamped, "Made in Malaysia."

   Zolton

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Jan 22, 2011 08:30am | #8

   Construction adhesive

   Beautiful, Zolton!

   I'm with you. If it works - use it. I won't, or haven't, used construction adhesive in my furniture on a daily basis - but I certainly won't exclude it from my arsenal of 'tools'. 

   A few years ago I had to replace our entrance "porch". (I don't know what else to call it. It is a raised area. about 8' x 15', under a portion of roof.) The builder had laid tile (slippery when wet) on 3/4" plywood which, naturally began to rot. I tore all of that out, filled the void with compacted sand and laid a pattern of 4" x 8" bricks. But what was I going to do for the sill?

   I laid 8" x 12" blocks with about an inch overhang and used construction adhesive to hold them in place. Winter or summer they have never moved. In its place that is amazing stuff.

   Frosty

5. 
   swenson | Jan 22, 2011 09:24am | #9

   Construction Adhesive

   When I think of construction adhesive I think of Liquid Nails. I have never used Liquid Nails but I have had to remove things put together with LN. (I want to stop writing out liquid nails but I don't want anyone to think that I am referring to Lie Nielsen when I say LN). When we remodeled our kitchen I did all the demolishing of counters and stuff and had the pros do the installation of the floors and granite. Among other things fastened with LN, there was a railing post that went thru the floor and was bolted to a joist in the basement ceiling. The railing separated the kitchen from the one step down family room and I wanted it out when the wooden floor went in. The builder had used liquid nails on the end of the post before he bolted it to the joist and it took me a whole day to get it unattached after I removed the bolts. In essence I destroyed the end of the post piece by piece until there was nothing left but the glue. LN is tough. Too tough for my taste. I also struggled taking a backsplash off the side of the stove cabinet where a desk adjoined it... LN again. New backsplash had to be cut oversize to cover the damage done by the removal of LN glue.

   From other posts here a gather that there are other kinds of construction adhesive, but this is my experience with deconstructing the one kind I am familiar with.

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Jan 22, 2011 09:43am | #10

   LN and CA

   Swenson,

   You found the proper way out of the confusion of abbreviations. - LN. You can imagine my concern about shortening construction adhesive to  CA when we are talking about glues

   Frosty.

6. 
   swenson | Jan 22, 2011 01:07pm | #11

   First time I tried CA glue, despite warnings, managed to glue some fingers together, then found out my wife had no nail polish remover and had to go around the neighborhood knocking on doors asking, "Do you use nail polish?"

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Jan 22, 2011 03:32pm | #12

   CA glue

   That's better than asking for help to remove a freshly painted toilet seat,  just tacky enough to stick. 

1. 
   swenson | Jan 23, 2011 01:10am | #13

   just tacky enough

   Speaking of tacky stories...  Late 1960s, Preston County West Virginia deer camp, mid November.  Old timers telling city boy (me) why they never use plastic toilet seats in the outhouse.  Seems one of 'em got forze to a plastic toilet seat and the good ol' boys had to go out and pour hot coffee on him to get him unstuck.