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Great stuff pro gun ?

Discussion in 'The DIY Room' started by JustWood, Nov 1, 2015.

  1. JustWood

    JustWood Guest

    Anyone with any trigger time experience ?
    I have a commercial office/apartment building that is gonna get some major rehab in the next 2-3 years.
    I have a boat load of insulbaord (that I acquired free) we are gonna put in the walls x 3 layers and foam around.
    Building is a 3 layer tile type construction and some of the exterior tile have holes from vandalism. I'm thinking of filling holes with a rag or paper then foaming over to create a backing for a masonry repair. Possibly an entire spray on type stucco.
    I can see a lot of use out of the gun.
    Any thoughts or better guns for the application?
     
  2. Babaganoosh

    Babaganoosh

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    Filling holes with paper or rags? Huh? I'm pretty sure that violates some sort of code, and if not it sounds like shoddy work unless I'm missing something.
     
  3. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

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    I got one I do a lot of little project 1 window or door. I got tired of throwing out half empty cans. ( I looked everywhere for spare straws) When spraying large area in 1 time I, hire a company, to fill gaps I tuck pink in and spray over the top. works great
     
  4. johninwi

    johninwi

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    Very useful tool, the cans are a bit more expensive but in the long run i think they're cheaper, like mentioned, no more wasted half cans, or doing waiting till you have enough of an area to use the entire can.
    I've pluged a can into my gun, used it for a small area and set it down for over a month and it worked just like it did when the can was new.

    The one drawback i've found is it doesn't fit up into tight corners like a ring joist area, also doesn't like being switched between can up and the can down but i may not have been shaking it enough between switching can positions.

    i did find a u-tube video of teardown and cleaning that i watched before buying the gun and did a teardown after having it for a few months, very simple and easy to service with average hand tools.


    The black plastic extension straws? I've cleaned a few after the foam dried, they were reusable then. I also stuck a piece of wire into the straw end without removing it from the gun and was able to reuse the straw a few more time's, even with days between usage. And if you locate the straws, let me know please.
     
  5. HDRock

    HDRock

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    That's what I do, pipe cleaner even works better
     
  6. johninwi

    johninwi

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    i tried a piece of 1/4" clear tube slide over the end, about 12"-16" long, DON'T it worked for a bit and then poped off, picking greatstuff out of belly hair isn't fun.
     
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  7. JustWood

    JustWood Guest

    Good info. Thanks.
    Is there a competing brand gun/product that I should be considering other than great stuff ? A few searches Ive done doesn't bring up much else.
     
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  8. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

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    Yeah for about 12 grand you can buy into a bad spray foam company.. :cool: not that I found with that level of flexibility.. you can buy foam in a 2 3 pound canisters with like an eight foot pump sprayer hose but my (contractor) cost on that was 2.29 a foot. I use a good spray company. . one of the mods here did a write up what to look for... they charge me a cash price of 75 cents a foot. but setup and clean up takes time.. so for small jobs I got the gun...
     
  9. schlot

    schlot

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    Were you trying to your belly button full of spray insulation that you got it in your belly hair? :)
     
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  10. DaveGunter

    DaveGunter

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    I got this one, only because it is what the most local store carries, not sure how it compares to the great stuff as I've never used that gun.

    Touch 'n Foam | Gun Foam Applicators
     
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  11. johninwi

    johninwi

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    I bought the greatstuff brand gun, really didn't shop other makes and i doupt i'd have bought another if it had been available, the greatstuff seems to be the standard goto sealer.
    I had tried another type of foam, think it was dap that made it, a blue can if i recall, never again it didn't stick well and compressed far to easily.

    Nope, just one of thoes unexpected "benifits" of thinking i could make it better, really need to toss the leftover hose before i try version 2 of stupid.
     
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  12. fuelrod

    fuelrod

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    I believe that all the brands of foam "cans" have the same thread. I've had about 3 different guns, you will eventually clog one up and I don't think it matters what brand you get, they all seem to fit and do the same job. Get a can of gun cleaner and use it if you're not going to use it for a month or more. The guns have really come way down in price and seem to be much easier to find. My first one was Hilti brand and expensive, but that was about 12 years ago.
     
  13. Lumber-Jack

    Lumber-Jack

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    I've used several different types before, including the Pro gun. Fuelrod is right on, they all seem to eventually plug up.
    Those cans of gun cleaner contain acetone, it's a great foam solvent. If you are planning to do much work with that foam you will eventually get it on something you don't want to and acetone will clean it right off, so it's nice to have a separate can acetone on hand for clean up.
     
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  14. T-Stew

    T-Stew

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    I got one of the Foam 'n seal guns. They had great reviews and half the price of the Great Stuff branded ones. I got this one FNS 500

    I've had a big insulation / renovation project on the old half of my house all year. I've gone through about a dozen and a half 24oz cans so far. The gun itself is great. The teflon works slick... when foam is dried on hard it still pops right off the teflon. But with all the usage (and maybe the coating getting scraped on the tip one of the few times it fell on the floor or something) it did start to peel off the tip. The biggest problem though, and the company claimed its usually the can and not their guns fault, is that it is really hard to get a good seal when you screw on the can and some foam leaks out. A couple of times this was a huge problem and I made a huge mess and wasted 1/2 of a can and got it on myself too. But most of the time if you thread the can on fast all the way until you spin the plastic head of the can, the leakage is fairly small. Seems like they should have a better way of sealing, like a gasket or something.
     
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  15. krooser

    krooser

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