I used to use that berand but have found recently that it doesn't seem to go as far as it used to. I now use http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-expanding-foam-gun-grade-750ml/87934

Why the need for low expansion stuff?

This will do it - very low expansion compared to the products above Designed primarilly for use bonding timbers together. And fantastic for that use! Don't see why it cant be used for bonding PUR together. Techical sheet herehttp://www.soudal.com/soudalweb/images/products/1938/Pro45P.pdf

This stuff expands less than most. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesives%20&%20Sealants/Expanding%20Foam/Dry%20Wall%20Foam%20Fix/d180/sd2857/p60449

The low-expansion stuff is easier to "aim" and not so anarchic. Far less waste as a result. Don't know whether it's an illusion, but it seems "closer celled" too, probably because it doesn't have such a manic reaction?

Will have a look at those other brands, although this latest 5-pack will probably see me through all the remaining windows. It goes a VERY long way.

This is the "proper" stuff...

[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/b98z7t.jpg[/IMG]

I suppose it's not such a bad deal, considering the pack comes with a can of gun cleaner and the gun. It's just that you can end up with a van load of guns!

I have used this stuff to stick skirting in a cellar conversion because I couldn't use fixings through the tanking. Walls were as uneven as hell, out of true by a measured 10" on the one wall. Cut lengths of batten just over-length of the width of the cellar, squirted the foam along the length of the board both sides and knocked the battens into place to wedge opposite sides against each other to push into close contact with the wall. The following day did the same for the end walls, except with a board across the width half way to brace the battens against, keeping them short-ish to avoid bending and loss of push. Still there 3 years later (minus battens) AND the electrician fixed sockets to them.

Expanding foam got a bad reputation because of its association with the upvc window trade, although for the life of me I can't see why. Possibly a throw-back to the days when a "proper" fixing (and according to FENSA, too) was considered to be only via screws.

BUGGER, BUGGER, BUGGER!!!

And just opened the box and connected the first can up. Damn, blast and bugger-damn-blast.

An hour earlier and I could have taken the stuff back. Just back here now waiting for it to go off.

How much profit does Screwfix want? Mind you, it was the same price at Travis Perkins, so they're all as bad as each other.

Ah well. Damn good find 'gooday'.

Never think of trying ebay for the mainstream construction stuff, but of course there are companies trading full-time on there now.

There's a lesson!

It's all horrible toxic stuff , let's find an alternative.

I use the siroflex stuff quite a lot and it has the advantage of being 'green' ( in colour)

if you want it to expand less keep it cold ( though wont go so far)

top tips : stick the empty tin on a rad for a bit to heat it up and get that last bit out.

Posted By: jamesingramIt's all horrible toxic stuff

Not really 'horribly' toxic once fully cured.

There is always greased wadding, natural rubbers (quite environmentally damaging, the plants are originally from Brazil but now grown in Far East), waxed papers, mud, plaster, lime and tar.

Posted By: JoinerNone of which can be applied through a narrow plastic tube into very small cracks and holes with large gaps behind them.

You need a nurse for that

Posted By: Joiner It reaches the parts other substances can't reach and is both permanent and, paradoxically, reversible..

how permanent ? seen old stuff (not exposed to sunlight or elements) degraded on several occasions

ST , I wouldn't want to eat it , even when cured, end of life it has to go somewhere.

i use loads of it , simple because it allows me to bodge.
Faster, cheaper than attention to acurate measuring, precison construction and installations.

James, the 'bodge' label is what's dogged the stuff for years.

But the fact that it allows a good fixing without cold bridging in some pretty uneven walls where mechanical fixings would seriously damage the stonework or brickwork, where the original fixings went into sound stone or brickwork that 'went' a few generations ago, makes it ideal.

As for permanence, many of the techniques and materials being used to achieve sustainability now have yet to withstand the test of time in real, as against simulated, situations. And the point surely is that the expanding foam fixing is renewable.

Remember, I was the one who wrote about his experience with a tube of the stuff mentioned at the head of this thread, where the stuff went in a way I've never experienced before, which is why I sent it to Dow Corning (at no little expense) for them to investigate. They couldn't replicate what happened to me so it was obviously something in the particular situation that made it uniquely antagonistic to expanding foam, although the same reaction had occurred in the neutral environment of the workshop. I posted that experience as a warning to those who use the stuff in areas that can't be checked, although I got no reaction from anyone on here!

I use it exclusively in the fitting of windows and doors, in which application (with the singular exception just mentioned) I've never had cause to doubt its efficacy both as a means fixing and as a means of introducing effective insulation in those locations.

The windows and doors are then either siliconed in or mortared in with either lime or cement, whichever is appropriate.

Has anyone used this stuff around a flue liner or anything that gets really hot?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-fire-rated-expanding-foam-gun-750ml/32307

What temp resistance does it have?

Posted By: WillInAberdeenI spent some evenings listening to loud crunching sounds like popcorn.

Annoying sound, isn't it...

Not heard here so far this winter, I'm glad to say. We may even be heading for a rodent free winter for the first time (18 years here). Perhaps down to the purge I had last year going around the base of the house stuffing cement into even the tiniest signs of holes, and the wire mesh I placed over the air vents - or maybe it's just that it's been such a mild winter...

I love WillinAberdeen's post too. I had the scary experience of using squirty foam making my garage loir proof (not sure we have them in the UK but think of a mouse with a bushy tail like a squirrel). Foam (Soudal) expanded all over the place and I made the fatal mistake of trying to stuff it back in the holes - only to spend the next 5 days wondering when / if I was ever going to get my finger prints back.

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: mrswhitecat</cite> I had the scary experience of using squirty foam making my garage loir proof (not sure we have them in the UK but think of a mouse with a bushy tail like a squirrel). </blockquote>

We do have them in the UK, they're dormice. They are a protected species here, although I know from friends who live in France that the things are a pest there in some areas. When I last stayed with them we were kept awake at night by the row they made up in the roof.