Which Selleys application tool do you need — a caulking gun or a sausage gun?

Selleys accessories are the application tools rather than the chemistry: the caulking, silicone and sealant guns you use to get a cartridge or a sausage of product out where you want it. The choice comes down to one thing — how much product a single job needs. A caulking gun takes a standard cartridge and suits precision work; a sausage gun takes a sausage pack that holds almost twice as much product as a cartridge, so you get more done before you have to stop and reload.

If you are sealing a shower recess or gluing the edges of a few boards, a caulking gun is the tool. If you are working through a whole facade, a long run of joints, or any job where changing packs every few minutes is the bottleneck, the sausage gun is the one to reach for.

What this category covers

A caulking gun is an essential tool for many do-it-yourself projects around the home. It handles two related jobs: applying adhesives smoothly and with precision, and sealing gaps, leaks and construction joints. Although many Selleys products are available in different sizes, including large volume pails, caulking guns are what you want for jobs requiring a greater level of precision — a small amount of adhesive around the edges of boards and tiles, or sealant worked into grooves, nooks and corners.

The advantage of a gun over squeezing a tube by hand is control. You can start and stop the bead cleanly, keep the flow rate steady along a run, and push product properly into a joint instead of smearing it across the surface.

How to choose

Choose by pack format first

The gun has to match the pack the product comes in. Cartridges go in a caulking gun. Sausages — which are exactly what they sound like, a sealed skin of product rather than a rigid tube — need a sausage gun with a barrel sized to hold them. Selleys also supplies some products in large volume pails, which are dispensed differently again.

Then choose by volume of work

The Selleys Sausage Gun is designed for high-precision work on jobs that require a little more product than a cartridge offers. Because a sausage holds almost twice as much product as a cartridge, it roughly halves the number of times you stop to reload on a long job. Selleys describes it as being specifically designed to discharge high volumes of adhesives and sealants while still giving easy application and a clean finish.

Note that "more volume" does not mean "less control" here — the sausage gun is presented as a precision tool, not a bulk-fill one. The reason to choose it is the size of the job, not a compromise on the quality of the bead.

The products in this range

• Selleys Sausage Gun — designed to discharge high volumes of adhesives and sealants, for easy application and a consistent finish on larger jobs.

The wider accessories range covers caulking, silicone and sealant guns generally. The product listing on this category page loads dynamically, so the full current line-up is best checked on the live accessories category page.

Common questions about Selleys accessories

Do I need a gun at all, or can I use a tube?

Many Selleys products come in hand-squeezable tubes as well as cartridges. A gun is what you want when you need precision along a run — steady pressure, a clean start and stop, and product pushed into the joint rather than laid over it.

What is the difference between a cartridge and a sausage?

Volume, mostly. A sausage holds almost twice as much product as a cartridge, which is why sausage packs suit bigger jobs. They need a sausage gun rather than a standard caulking gun.

When is the Sausage Gun the better choice?

When the job needs more product than a cartridge offers but still calls for precision — long sealant runs, larger adhesive jobs, anything where reloading repeatedly would slow you down.

Can I use a caulking gun for adhesives as well as sealants?

Yes. Caulking guns are used both for applying adhesives smoothly and with precision, and for sealing gaps, leaks and construction joints.

What sort of detail work is a caulking gun good for?

Applying a small amount of adhesive around the edges of boards and tiles, and getting sealant into grooves, nooks and corners — the places a wide, uncontrolled bead would make a mess of.

What if the job is very large?

Many Selleys products are available in larger sizes, including large volume pails. For high-volume dispensing of adhesives and sealants, the Sausage Gun is the accessory built for it.