Normally, I’m wary of companies that put images of angry animals on their packaging, in a lame attempt to convince me that those products are just as unbreakable as a charging rhino or towering Tyrannosauri. So I was skeptical of King Kaulk, the latest goo-in-a-tube from Red Devil. With its punning homage to a convinced cinematic simian (and in case you miss the connection, there’s a snarling gorilla on the label), could that really be a serious contender in the burgeoning world of caulk? Well, after using many tubes of it inside and external my house by the final year, I can honestly say it is one of the best goos I’ve had the opportunity to use.

King Kaulk belongs to a relatively new course of sealants made with MS polymers ( MS stands for modified silicone, although apparently that’s a misnomer; I’m told there is not a drop of silicone in it ), which are widely used in Europe as a substitute for silicone and polyurethane sealants. King Kaulk performs well on three levels: as an adhesive, a sealant, and, as it’s name implies, a gap-filling caulk. Unlike a silicone,

it’s paintable. Unlike water-based acrylics, it doesn’t shrink, harden, or crack. And unlike polyurethanes, it doesn’t deteriorate in the sun. In my house, I’ve used it on wood, fiberglass, and cellular PVC. it’s helping hold the ends of my porch railings to the columns, it’s sealing the ends of various trim boards, and it’s covering gaps within base moldings. . The tubes I used came with little caps that sealed so tightly that I never had a problem with the stuff in the nozzle turning har, even after months of neglect.


That said, the caulk-sealant-adhesive does have a few drawbacks. Cleanup requires mineral spirits, not the most skin-, nose-, or earth-friendly of solvents. (I found mineral spirits plus offered the best way to get a smooth bead.) And considering of it’s high solids content—hence the minimal shrinkage—it takes some muscle to get it out of the tube. A good caulk gun, like my Cox 41004, certainly helps, but I found that squeezing out a lot of King Kaulk really built up my forearms and grip strength. Hey, possibly there’s something to that gorilla logo after all!

Original post by Tom Baker