I put up a harbor freight green house in October. I've been sealing the panels with a silicon caulk. We've got a lot of rain here lately and now all the caulking is turning to a loose putty. The caulking had previously dried.
Now the trouble is not only the seal but my panels have started blowing off because the caulking isn't holding them on.
It's the smaller of the HF greenhouses so I can't really screw in the panels on the roof. The vertical panels are screwed in.
Any ideas? Thanks!

What sort of caulk are you using, @mcallis?

It's a clear silicon.

I can't imagine silicone caulk turning to a "loose putty" like that... do you know what the brand is? Also, what was the temperature like when you applied it?

I am with you, Sandy. I have used many, many tubes of 100% Silicone, and I have never seen anything like that happening.

We use it pretty much "everywhere" too; really curious as to what would cause it to fail. @Mcallis -- you might want to call the manufacturer of the caulk you used and ask about it. And if you find anything out, I would be very interested to hear what caused the problem.

That's a great suggestion, @ Sandy. @mcallis, you can also go back to the store you purchased it from and complain about the results. This stuff is guaranteed to perform satisfactorily for many years. The caulking/sealants I used on the solarium carries a 50 year and a lifetime warrantee.

We used GE II silicone -- put it on last year on a 6 x 8 Harbor Freight - and have had no problems with it.

I've tried 5 different products (the four below and the same brand of caulk 100% silicone). Not a one of them has held anything. All the exterior caulking has washed away. My solution was to put a self tapping screw in each and every panel because they keep blowing out.
The Seal All, btw, will eat at the panels.
I'll send the manufacturer an email, see if they have anything to add.

If all else fails drop the atomic bomb on those windows..That means use epoxy...

Mcallis, I would recommend a clear 100% "Silicone Seal" product -- such as this one at Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-...

You can get it in the tubes to use in a caulking gun, or in toothpaste-size tubes. This stuff is used inside aquariums, once it cures it is completely clear, waterproof, and nontoxic -- and it's strong enough that when we remodeled our bathroom and had the shower tiled, our "tile guys" used it to attach the ceramic soap dish thing to the tiled wall. It probably says something to this effect on the tubes, but I would try to apply it on a dry, mild, overcast day and give it a good 24 hours to cure.

The Seal All is a "contact adhesive" that no doubt contains some solvents that will dissolve the poly greenhouse panels. And, unless that's a different type of Gorilla Glue than what I've used, I would think it would make quite an unattractive mess around the panels.

I hope that helps -- another thing is, I would think you would want to use the silicone seal the entire length of the panel sides, if that isn't what you've been doing (the reason I mention that is the apparent small size of the products that you show in the photo, it doesn't seem like those amounts would go very far. Which is probably just as well since they didn't work right )

100% silicone only.

I don't know anything about sealing greenhouses, but a handyman just replaced my shower.

Two weeks later, when I turn the water on, it smells like diesel gasoline for 20-40 seconds. I have no idea what he used, but I hope it cured solid and isn't waiting to burst in the middle of the night (or, worse, while I'm away at work).

When he said "licensed and bonded", I hope that means he has enough insurance if my house floats away or I flood the neighbors below me.

yuk, I can't imagine what would smell like diesel that was used in a shower repair. (Silicone Seal smells like vinegar when it's curing.) Maybe the flux for soldering copper pipe together? Or the cement used for the plastic-type pipe?

BTW, thanks for the acorn, Rick -- and where have you been lately?! (that's a rhetorical question, you don't actually have to tell us )

>> Or the cement used for the plastic-type pipe?

That was my guess. If it's potent enough to soften and glue PVC, it must be chemically nasty. I just hope the pipes don't blow apart!

I don't have good photos because it was the rainy season in a (cool) rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula. But that was the Fungus Forum's loss, because everywhere you looked was like a museum of moss, fungus and epiphytes.

These photos are mostly from another trip to the Olympic Peninsula.

(Umm ... I'll find them soon.)


Here are some photos to tide you over, from the Rocky Mountains (several years ago) and other trips, because my vacations tend to run together in my mind and photo cole4lction.

RickCorey said:

Rocky Mountains north of Denver:





Klamath Falls? Snowqualami falls?




Mt. Shasta, CA:




Becky used to live near Redmond OR:

Here we go ... another paqrt of the Olympic Penninsula:

RickCorey said: However, all the funky moss and lichens and epiphytes were under deep shade and I didn't realize I would have to aim away from all sun patches and then use the flash up close. Instead most of those shots were dim, dark and looked like double or triple exposures.

PVC is first primed (both contact areas) and then cement is applied, again to both areas. The primer slightly softens the PVC, enabling the glue to do a better job. I would guess that any odor at all would dissipate rather quickly, but I really don't know where that specific "diesel" odor would come from. PVC is pretty much the standard now (where copper pipes were used before), so there is a lot of primer/cement used in homes and commercial property. By the way, PEX piping is now being used more and more often. Though more expensive than PVC, when water freezes in a PEX pipe, the pipe expands and does not burst. That's what was installed in my new solarium.

I don't know what he used as "glue" or even if that is what the "diesel" smell comes from. But what else would it be?

He was up to his second or third week working on what we thought was a 4-5 day job, and we started repeating that we thought it would have been done sooner, and that there WAS a deadline eventually. He started working a little more than 1/2 days, and may have started cutting corners.

And yet, that should not have affected it because more than a week went by between his closing up the under-the-shower-area, and his authorizing the shower for use. So I have no idea why/where/what made the smell. It is noticeably less after a few weeks, and even at the start, it only smelled strongly for the first half-minute after running the water.

P.S. He did the job for a flat fee, so taking three or four times as long as expected didn't cost 3-4 times as much. It turns out he's semi-retired even while working on a job, and 4-hour-days were his maximum effort. (We should have discussed a done-by date up front! But he did good work, except for this strange smell that is finally fading.)

Strangely, this is not TOTALLY off-topic. Only mostly-off-topic.

I guess mentioning my "S" room makes it slightly so. I do water my plants via that sink you know.