Which Selleys construction adhesive do you need, and how do you choose?

Check the Liquid Nails Landscape specification

Selleys' product page and its dated technical sheet disagree on Landscape's chemistry, colour, paintability and pack size. Landscape figures below from the November 2020 technical sheet describe that document, not a confirmed specification for every current cartridge. Confirm the matching instructions before painting, choosing a colour, or relying on cure and loading times. See the source comparison and dated documents.

Construction adhesives are the products that fix building materials to each other — panels, mouldings, trim, fixtures, pavers and roof tiles — where nails or screws would be impractical, ugly or impossible. Selleys publishes fifteen products in this category, most of them under the Liquid Nails name, plus a trade range and a roof pointing compound.

Three questions sort the range quickly: how fast do you need it to grab, is the joint exposed to weather, and is either surface awkward — glass, mirror, metal or stone. Answer those and you are usually down to one or two products.

How to choose

By how fast it has to hold

The most common reason a construction adhesive job goes wrong is that the piece slides or falls off the wall before the adhesive has taken. If you cannot brace or prop the item, grab speed is the deciding property.

• Liquid Nails Extreme Grab — a multipurpose adhesive described as setting in just 10 seconds. This is the one for pieces that must hold instantly with no support.
• Liquid Nails Fast Grab — a high strength construction adhesive that provides strong initial holding power. Its water-based formulation is low odour and allows easy water clean up, which makes it the more comfortable choice for indoor work in an occupied room.
• Liquid Nails Rapid Cure — described as setting in 20 minutes for a strong, durable bond. Rapid cure and instant grab are different things: this one gives you time to position the piece, then reaches its bond quickly.

By where the joint lives

Exterior exposure is not a small difference. Heat, water and ultraviolet light all attack an adhesive bond, and an interior product in an exterior joint fails slowly rather than immediately, which is worse.

• Liquid Nails Exterior — a high-performance construction adhesive specifically designed for outdoor use, able to withstand heat, water and UV.
• Liquid Nails Landscape — for outdoor projects involving rocks and stones.

By the substrate

Two products in the range exist because ordinary construction adhesive does not suit the surface:

• Liquid Nails Clear — for a clear, strong bond on transparent surfaces such as glass and plastic. Use it where a visible bead of an opaque adhesive would show through the material.
• Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal — the specialty product for mirrors and metal. Mirrors in particular are worth taking seriously: their silvered backing is what a wrong adhesive damages, and the damage is not repairable.

By whether it is a trade job

The Pro Trade pair covers professional work:

• Pro Trade Construction Adhesive Fast Grip — a water-based, high strength construction adhesive providing strong initial holding power.
• Pro Trade Construction Adhesive Multipurpose — a high strength, multipurpose adhesive that forms a strong and lasting bond on most building substrates.

If the job is a roof

Two products in this category are not general adhesives at all. Selleys Point Works is a tile pointing compound applied with a trowel and used to fasten — point — hip and ridge roof tiles. Point Works Accelerant Spray is formulated specifically to accelerate the setting of Point Works Gen II flexible roof pointing in cool and damp conditions, to reduce the risk of washout. If you are pointing a roof in cold or damp weather, the accelerant is not an optional extra — washout is the failure it exists to prevent.

The products in this range

• Hold Up — a strong, versatile multipurpose adhesive that bonds quickly and securely.
• Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive — the general-purpose adhesive for tough jobs, on metal, wood and more.
• Liquid Nails Heavy Duty — an extra strong bond for the toughest jobs, on metal, wood and more.
• Liquid Nails Flex — listed in the range; its published description on the site currently duplicates the Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive text, so check the product page itself for what distinguishes it.
• Liquid Nails Clear — clear bond for glass, plastic and other transparent surfaces.
• Liquid Nails Exterior — outdoor use, resistant to heat, water and UV.
• Liquid Nails Extreme Grab — multipurpose, sets in 10 seconds.
• Liquid Nails Fast Grab — water-based, high strength, strong initial hold, low odour, water clean up.
• Liquid Nails Rapid Cure — multipurpose, sets in 20 minutes.
• Liquid Nails Landscape — outdoor projects with rocks and stones.
• Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal — specialty adhesive for mirrors and metal.
• Pro Trade Construction Adhesive Fast Grip — water-based trade adhesive with strong initial holding power.
• Pro Trade Construction Adhesive Multipurpose — high strength, bonds most building substrates.
• Point Works — trowel-applied tile pointing compound for hip and ridge roof tiles.
• Point Works Accelerant Spray — accelerates the set of Point Works Gen II in cool and damp conditions.

The Liquid Nails brand page covers the range as a whole.

The safety divide in this category — three chemistries, three very different risks

The choices above are made on grab speed, exposure and substrate. There is a fourth axis the product names give no clue about: these fifteen products are built on at least four chemistries, and the hazard gap between them is wider than any performance gap in the range.

Group	Products	Classification
Polyurethane — Danger	Liquid Nails Rapid Cure	Eight hazard statements, including H334 may cause asthma if inhaled, H351 suspected of causing cancer, H372 organ damage from repeated exposure, H332 harmful if inhaled, H317, H335, H315, H319
Solvent based — Danger	Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive, Liquid Nails Heavy Duty, Liquid Nails Clear	H225 highly flammable liquid and vapour, H315, H319. Heavy Duty adds H336 may cause drowsiness or dizziness
Warning	Hold Up, Liquid Nails Exterior, Extreme Grab, Mirror & Metal	H317 allergic skin reaction, H319 serious eye irritation
Warning — single statement	Liquid Nails Flex (H319), Point Works Accelerant Spray (H319), Pro Trade Fast Grip (H317)	One hazard class only
Landscape: Danger	Liquid Nails Landscape	Liquid Nails Landscape's Australian SDS version 7.0, 16 November 2023, lists Danger: H227, H317 and H318 — combustibility, allergic skin reaction and serious eye damage. Follow the matching pack and SDS for protection, handling and first aid.
Check each product SDS	Liquid Nails Fast Grab, Point Works and Pro Trade Multipurpose	The absence of a classification in a comparison is not evidence that a product is unclassified. Check the product-specific safety documents.

Rapid Cure is the outlier, and not by a small margin. It is the only polyurethane here and it carries eight hazard statements where the next worst carries four. H334 — respiratory sensitisation — is the one that matters most: the immune system can learn to react to the vapour, after which the reaction is generally permanent, is set off by far smaller exposures than the one that caused it, and worsens each time. It is the mechanism behind occupational asthma in the polyurethane trades. Combined with H351 and H372, this is a product for a ventilated space with an organic vapour respirator, not a dust mask, and not for a closed room with other people in it. Note that its short working time means it is often reached for precisely when someone is in a hurry indoors.

The three solvent-based Liquid Nails are a different problem: ignition. H225 means a flash point low enough that the vapour above the bead is flammable at ordinary room temperature. That rules out a pilot light, a heater, a grinder or a soldering iron in the same room while you work and while it off-gasses. Heavy Duty adds H336, drowsiness and dizziness — the practical form of which is a headache after an hour of gluing wall sheets in a closed room with the windows shut.

The water-based products are the answer to both problems. Fast Grab publishes no GHS classification and a VOC content under 50 g/L; Pro Trade Fast Grip carries a single H317 and publishes 24 g/L; Liquid Nails Flex carries a single H319 and publishes 14 g/L. Every product in this category that publishes a VOC figure at all is a non-solvent one, and all three come in below 50 g/L. If the job is indoors in an occupied house, that is the group to choose from — and Fast Grab is the only construction adhesive in the range that carries no classification at all.

Comparing the adhesives on the numbers that decide the job

Four figures decide a construction adhesive: how much weight it will hold the moment you let go, how long it will let you move the piece, how much it will bridge an uneven surface, and how long before the bond is finished. They are published unevenly, and the three products with no specification table — Liquid Nails Clear, Liquid Nails Exterior and Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive — are left out of the table below rather than guessed at.

Product	Instant / vertical hold	Adjustment window	Gap bridging	Full cure
Extreme Grab	Up to 400 kg/m² instant	Up to 15 minutes	Up to 9 mm	7 days
Hold Up	Up to 240 kg/m² (tube); up to 360 kg/m² (cartridge)	Adjustable up to 15 minutes; skin time approx. 45 minutes	See product page	At least 48 hours
Fast Grab	Up to 100 kg/m² instant; up to 500 tonnes/m² held after 7 days	See product page — clamps stay on 24 hours	Up to 9 mm	72 hours
Rapid Cure	3 MPa after 1 hour; 7 MPa after 24 hours (pine)	5 minutes working time	Up to 3 mm	24 hours
Heavy Duty	Fasteners removable at 8 hours	Up to 20 minutes after fitting	See product page	7 days
Pro Trade Multipurpose	>500 kPa initial bond after 24 hours	Open time 20–30 minutes; wet bonds repositionable 20 minutes	Up to 9 mm	7 days
Pro Trade Fast Grip	>200 kPa initial bond	See product page	See product page	72 hours
Flex	Initial set approx. 4 hours	Skin time 18 minutes	Up to 9 mm	3 mm per 24 hours
Mirror & Metal	Support required, normally 72 hours	Skin time 10–15 minutes; tack free 45 minutes	See product page	2 mm per day
Landscape	24 hours before traffic on stairs or use of walls	Skin time 10–15 minutes; tack free 35 ± 5 minutes	See product page	2 mm per 24 hours
Point Works	Withstands light rain after 2 hours in good weather	Working time 10–20 minutes at 40 °C	Not applicable	24 hours

The two "grab" products are ranked the opposite way round on final strength. Extreme Grab holds up to 400 kg/m² the moment you press it on — four times Fast Grab's 100 kg/m² — and reaches up to 100 tonnes/m² in timber-to-timber shear. Fast Grab is the weaker of the two on day one and publishes up to 500 tonnes/m² held after seven days, five times Extreme Grab's figure on the same kind of timber-to-timber test. Instant grab buys you the freedom not to prop the piece; it does not buy the stronger finished joint. For anything structural that you can brace overnight, the slower water-based product is the stronger one, and it is also the one with no hazard classification.

The fastest product is the least forgiving of an uneven surface, which is exactly backwards from how it gets used. Gap bridging runs at up to 9 mm across Extreme Grab, Fast Grab, Flex and Pro Trade Multipurpose. Rapid Cure bridges up to 3 mm — a third as much — and gives five minutes of working time. Rough masonry, cupped timber and out-of-plumb studs are precisely the situations where someone reaches for the quick-setting product, and they are the situations its own specification says it is worst suited to. On an uneven substrate, pick on gap bridging first and cure speed second.

The 10-second claim and the 15-minute window are not in conflict — they measure different things. Extreme Grab's own specification publishes a repositionable period of up to 15 minutes alongside the instant-grab figure: ten seconds is when it starts carrying load, not when adjustment ends. Hold Up is specified the same way, adjustable for up to 15 minutes against a skin time of about 45. The number that ends your chance to move the piece is the skin time or repositionable window, not the set claim.

The mirror job is the one where the numbers say to prop it anyway. Mirror & Metal cures at 2 mm per day and its specification calls for support, normally for 72 hours. A heavy mirror on a wall is the classic case for an instant-grab adhesive, but the mirror-safe product is the slow one — so budget for three days of timber battens under the bottom edge rather than substituting a faster adhesive that may attack the silvering.

Common questions about Selleys construction adhesives

Which construction adhesive grabs fastest?

Liquid Nails Extreme Grab, described as setting in just 10 seconds.

What is the difference between Extreme Grab and Rapid Cure?

Extreme Grab sets in 10 seconds, so it holds immediately and leaves you no repositioning time. Rapid Cure sets in 20 minutes. Choose Extreme Grab when you cannot hold or prop the piece, and Rapid Cure when you need to line it up first.

Which one can I use outside?

Liquid Nails Exterior is specifically designed for outdoor use and withstands heat, water and UV. Liquid Nails Landscape is the outdoor product for rocks and stones.

Can I use these on a mirror?

Use Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal, which is the product Selleys lists for mirrors and metal.

Which one cleans up with water?

Liquid Nails Fast Grab is water-based, low odour, and allows easy water clean up. Pro Trade Construction Adhesive Fast Grip is also water-based.

What is the difference between Liquid Nails and Pro Trade?

Both are high strength construction adhesives. The Pro Trade pair is the trade range, with Fast Grip offering strong initial holding power and Multipurpose bonding most building substrates.

Is Point Works a glue?

No. Point Works is a tile pointing compound applied with a trowel, used to fasten hip and ridge roof tiles. It is listed under construction adhesives but it is a roofing product, not a general adhesive.

Do I need the Point Works Accelerant Spray?

It is formulated to accelerate the setting of Point Works Gen II flexible roof pointing in cool and damp conditions, to reduce the risk of washout. In cool or damp weather it addresses a real failure mode.

Which adhesive is best for glass?

Liquid Nails Clear is the one Selleys lists for transparent surfaces including glass and plastic.

Why does the category page text talk about contact adhesives?

The editorial paragraph published on the live Construction Adhesives page is the Selleys contact adhesive write-up. It describes a different family of products, and none of it should be read as applying to the construction adhesives above. The contact adhesives category is where that text belongs.