Maybe you’ve never even heard of Great Stuff.  {Don’t laugh if you’re a veteran DIYer, a lot of people who read my blog are DIY newbies.}  Great Stuff is an expanding foam used to fill cracks and holes in just about everything.   It’s often used to seal drafts around basement rafters or other behind the scenes locations, like around windows before trim is added.  But there are TONS of uses for this stuff.

How to Use Great Stuff

It’s pretty easy, just attached the tube to the nozzle by screwing it on.  Make sure the area you are going to use it on is clean and dry, then place the tube where you want it and push down on the little finger trigger.  Squeeze slowly!  And only fill the hole/crack/area half way because Great Stuff expands like nobody’s business.   DO NOT TOUCH the foam!!

Negatives to Using Great Stuff

• It’s a one-time-use product.  Due to its expanding/sealing nature, the tube that comes with the can of Great Stuff gets clogged and can’t be used again.  And if you remove the tube itself after you’re finished, then the nozzle will clog.  There are ways to clean the tube, but it’s a pain.  I’ve heard you can spray WD40 into the tube to remove the residual Great Stuff, but I haven’t tried it myself.  Instead, I like to wait until I have several spots that need Great Stuff and then open one can and do them all at once.  This is obviously not always practical.
• It’s super messy.  I am not usually deterred by messy, but this stuff can be a big pain.  Full strength acetone will remove it, but nail polish remover does nothing!  I’ve tried.  I tend to wipe stuff (like caulk, paint, etc) with my fingers, but that’s a big no-no with Great Stuff.  Once it’s on your hands, assume it’s going to be there for a few days.  I highly recommend you wear disposable gloves.
• It’s hard to predict how much it’s going to expand.  The can says to fill cracks halfway, but come on, that’s not so easy.  And you have no control over where the stuff is going to expand.  Take heart in the fact that once cured Great Stuff can be cut with a serrated knife and sanded down.

Where I’m Using Great Stuff Today

Despite all it’s shortcomings, I still can’t get by with using Great Stuff.  As I said, I make a list (at least a mental one) of all the places that need Great Stuff before I open a bottle.  Today I am going to use it to seal drafts behind the baseboard in my office, in nooks and crannies where I removed the fireplace wall, and a gap in the floor beneath where I knocked out part of the kitchen wall.

Before I put up new drywall next to the fireplace, I wanted to fill the gaps between the remaining brick and the woods studs.Oops, that’s waaay too much, because remember this stuff is going to expand over the next few hours.  I use a plastic bag to wipe off the excess.Don’t worry, it was fine.In my office I removed all the base molding before I started my built-in bookshelves.  I built secret storage areas under one bookshelf and it seamed really silly to put baseboard in that area because you would never see it.  The problem — it’s cold as heck under there!  Both walls are outside walls and there’s a serious draft coming in under the drywall.  So you guessed it, I filled that gap with Great Stuff.  And I left it just.like.that. because you’ll never see it.  Unless I take a picture and post it on the Internet, but whatever.In another corner of my office, I simply wanted to replace the base and quarter round molding with new base molding, but there was a huge gap, again.  First I filled the area under the drywall with Great Stuff, which was easy enough.But then I decided to fill the area behind the base molding with more Great Stuff.   Oops.  It wasn’t so easy to tell how much to add and after a few hours it looked like this.The good news — Now you know how to fix it, if this happens to you!  You can cut Great Stuff with a utility knife, which got rid of most of it in my case.Then sand off whatever is left.  Yay!

So do you think you’ll give Great Stuff a try?  Or have you had success with it in the past?  Please share!

Smart Girl