Customer Reviews

Dow Chemical Co. 157901 Great Stuff Insulating Foam Sealant for Gaps & Cracks

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Great Product!

Built a cooler using this stuff for a science project for school. Worked great. It is a one time use product however if you take the straw thing off and use it like a whip cream can it still came out.

Tip It says wear gloves WEAR THEM! Got all over hands took forever to get off. If you do get it on hands a bottle of acetone (from a hardware store) works the best to get it off.

I thought that I read ALL of the fine print before purchasing and beginning to use this product. Upon trying to figure out how to clean the wand that is used to get the spray foam out of the can, I noticed in very fine print - "One time use only." This should be marked clearly on the front of the package so that people are aware of what they are purchasing. I was expecting to use this multiple times until the product eventually went bad. Why would I buy this to fill a small crack here and there, only to discover that if not used within two hours the bottle will seal itself shut? So basically, I just spent $6 to seal two very small openings. And I won't even know how well the product has worked until it cures in 8 hours. As well, the wand did not work consistently - The foam did not come out evenly and did not adhere to the surface, but rather when pulling the wand away, much of the foam came with it. Very messy. Not satisfied with this product at all.

I had no experience with this sort of thing, bought a can and had no problems. I am on my third can and still no problems. The horror stories I read in the other reviews seem to be the fault of the user. Read the can, don't act retarded, and you will enjoy this product too.

The main complaint seems to be it does what it says it will do. I guess we are so used to being lied to that the truth rates a one star! Seriously just use it like a sober adult.

Regardless of what anyone out there says.....this is a great product and it does its job. Of course the downside is that you have to use the entire can at once since the spray nozzle will seal shut after use of the can. This is a minor flaw since they only cost $4 a can.

The insulating foam expands much larger than the bead that you run, so make sure to use less than you think you need!! It hardens into a thick plastic-like foam that will seal air flow and voids in the walls perfectly. I ran a bead all the way across my basement wall after I was getting a TON of bugs into my basement. After putting the spray foam all the way down the wall....no more bugs in the basement!! It is a great product that does it's job.

There is not much foam in each bottle but at just $4, you cannot beat the price for the job that it does. I will be buying several more for sealing other places to enhance energy efficiency in my home.

****UPDATE: One issue I discovered with this product is that it does not hold up well, when exposed to rain/water!! Used the expanding foam on exterior surfaces of my house for sealing purposes and the stuff did not last long at all to the elements. After being exposed to rain repeatedly, the foam loses its ability to stay in place and broke into several pieces. Strongly recommend that you use this product for interior projects only!!!!

Ok, so I get all prepped to fill the crack, put on gloves and all, then proceed to fill the gap. Hey, not bad. Wait, why is it still coming out of the tube? Maybe if I loosed the tube from the can a turn, nope still coming out. How about if I turn it upside down? Nope, still coming out of the tube. Well I'll be, the entire can is going to empty out. Whose brainchild was this? Really? One use per can? How about a clue the next time to develop a product to label it with this handy piece of information? Oh wait, then many people wouldn't buy it.
What a disaster this is. Well one thing is for sure, I can now name at least one product I will never, ever use again.

What a scam.

Bought a can of Dow Great Stuff Big Gap Filler at the local hardware. First I put on all the recommended safety gear. Then I thought I would practice with it to see how it behaved. I screwed on the straw-wand to the top of the valve. I pulled on the handle-trigger and nothing happened. I pulled harder nothing happened. Then I accidentally bumped the straw part of the applicator against a brick step and it snapped off at the nozzle; very weak and brittle I guess. Since the can was ruined for my purposes, I still wanted to see if I could get any of the filler out of the can. I pushed on the valve sideways figuring that it must be a down/sideways motion that would activate the valve--- most of what was left of the trigger snapped off; very weak and brittle I guess. Still nothing came out. Then I figured, one last try. I turned the can upside-down and pressed what was left of the valve down against the concrete patio and with some extra downward force I got the filler to come out of the can. I am now satisfied that this is a disastrous product. Just between you and me, I would have had more fun if I had first thrown the can in a fire to watch it explode!

This is a one-time-use can that works great for sealing cracks.

Upsides: Expands tremendously & bonds to any surface I've put it in. Good stuff for sure.
Downside: There is a learning curve. IT takes a little while to get used to it. It looks some-what ugly if it's not covered too. BUT i like it.

Twenty two years ago, shortly after I bought my house, there was a mild earthquake in our area that made a slight crack in a basement cinderblock. Water poured through like it was a faucet. I drilled the hole larger to take a hose, which I then used to drain the water into the basement drain. This unacceptable arrangement was necessary because I did not have the money to hire a contractor for the fix. Well, I got so tired of it that, one day, when everything had been dry and I was sealing some leaks for the winter, I just stuck the sealant hose in the concrete block and sprayed until it began to come out the hole. To my amazement, twenty-two years later, it is still NOT leaking even though water does collect in that area outside. Another basement wall began to leak badly a couple of years ago after some changes in the lay of the land due to a neighbor putting in a pool, causing more rain to go toward my land. So I drilled holes in each and every cinder block after all was dried out and filled every single block up to land level. Cost me about $200 (I paid someone to help) rather than thousands to tear up my basement. There is still a minor leak in two bottom blocks. These had some mud coming out when it leaks, so it appears the water seeps around the foam where the mud inside the block stopped it from filling entirely. I will redrill these, clear them out, and fix that. This is GREAT stuff. I will put the money I saved into fixing the landscape to improve drainage when I have the funds.

My husband has use this product before and didn't have any trouble. He used it to close the gaps between pipes coming through the walls in the basement and things like that.

Take 1: We decided to fill in a crack between the floor and wall of our house this time around. We already had two cans left from the basement project. After reading the instructions, I took the straw and screwed it on the valve, and squeezed. Nothing. Squeezed a bit more. Nothing. Unscrewed, looked in the hole and in the straw, shrugged, and screwed it back on. Squeezed, and nothing. Squeezed harder and the valve broke off, rendering it unusable. Nice.

Take 2: Managed to get the foam out of the second can, and it was trickier than I expected to get it where I wanted it to go and stick there, but I'm not perfect so oh well. But like another reviewer said.....what's this? It won't stop coming out of the can? I knew it was a one-use item, but I figured that when you stop pressing the trigger that it would stop coming out of the can whether you want to use the rest of it or not, right? It. would. not. stop. I had to have my husband run off to get a trash can to throw it in or else it was going to get all over the floor and never come off. With our wood floors we were VERY lucky I didn't get any on it and would have to most likely had to damage the floor just to get the gunk off. Unfortunately I got it all over my hands--gloved hands--so as to not let it drip on the floor. Which I thought was fine because like the instructions said, I was wearing gloves! Instead it ate through my gloves and got all over my hands. Lovely. When my husband reached me with the trash can I ripped the holey gloves off and tried scraping the goo off my hands but I think that just made it worse. It got all over my wedding rings and I will probably have to take it get cleaned. I tried my best to get it off but there are too many nooks and crannies where the diamonds are. I just hope it didn't damage my ring irreparably.

I washed my hands with soap and water, vinegar, alcohol, and nail polish remover to no avail. My husband ran to the thankfully-open-on-a-holiday hardware store and got some paint thinner. The straight-up paint thinner seemed to work, and my hands were all red and irritated but felt better after some lotion. They really should put a better warning on their label about wearing gloves, particularly about what KIND of gloves. I wish I had read reviews beforehand because I would've known that latex gloves are eaten through by this junk. Any gloves you'd wear and get this stuff on would be ruined, but you'd have to wear heaftier gloves than latex so good luck finding a thick cheap pair of gloves for that.

So now it's in a trash bag and I just have to wonder if the can will completely empty inside it and then expand....this could be a little scary. It reminds me of The Blob. Though if it explodes, all would be forgiven if Steve McQueen showed up to save the day. :)

Yes, it's very messy and can only be used once, so what? I don't use gloves but then again I've used this plenty times before. This works great for any kind of small and large gap fill, whether it's for drywall, concrete, wood, etc.