The great stuff construction adhesive sounds interesting. The data sheet online was less than informative. Not saying it isn't a decent product, but the information provided was useless. There is a similar competitor with a better data sheet. I haven't used either of them. The Advantech stuff I jest read about in Fine Homebuilding this morning, so one ad and no hands on. Neither foam mentions flexibility, which I would like to have seen. PL premium, as stiff as it is, still has some resilience.
The Nov. issue of Fine Homebuilding has a decent article on the newer, less durable green in the political sense green treat yellow pine. Not your grandfathers PT pine. Only the foundation grade .60 CCA is something I would recommend for boats. It is special order and comes in limited sizes. It is not allowed for interior use on homes, but good for deck framing. The building codes are now requiring that the cut ends have to be treated with something like copper naphthenate. There is a small market for all wood house foundations, which do last if done properly. I hope so anyway as mine is 35 years old. If this was Australia, I would recommend turpentine, the wood, not the solvent.
I have used some of the various Great Stuff gap filling foams. They are very light, the tds says 14 psi tensile strength and 1 lb/cu ft density. The advantech subfloor claims 500 psi shear and I could assume great stuff might be similar. They tend to form very large bubbles in thick sections. In my experience, when they dry slowly the bubbles coalesce, which makes for larger voids. I fooled with some on a foamy trailer topper for a utility trailer, just to get a feel for foam structures and how to build a small camper. The Great stuff landscape foam seems to be stronger than the gap filler. It costs more, but it seems more durable. I would not consider the gap filler for planking, but that's just my opinion. I'll go as far as maybe on the landscape filler, but would be more confident in the subfloor adhesive but I have not tried it.
Another foam that has garnered a poor reputation for open or lightly clamped joint strength is Gorilla glue. It also forms very large bubbles in gaps, but that can be controlled to some extent by adding some wood flour and or fumed silica. As a gap filler, it may have some, albeit messy, utility. Still not a flexible foam. It does fill nail holes and cracks reasonably well, and with silica it is noticeably harder. Just for grins, I tried a gorilla glue/fiberglass composite. Epoxy it isn't, but for a quick and dirty sawdust vent elbow on a radial arm saw it was adequate. I wanted a way to attach a dust collector hose. The inside of the shape was carved from styrofoam. It was wrapped in fiberglass with some slightly wood flour thickened gorilla glue. There isn't much foaming since it was thin and the gas could escape. The styrofoam disappears with acetone. It worked well even if it does look like dung. Not a glowing recommendation, but in an 18 oz bottle it isn't any more expensive than epoxy. Another tool in the box for mickey mouse repairs. Gorilla glue doesn't age well since moisture in the air can get through the bottle and thicken it. Use it or loose it in a matter of months, so I used it up.
The Nov. issue of Fine Homebuilding has a decent article on the newer, less durable green in the political sense green treat yellow pine. Not your grandfathers PT pine. Only the foundation grade .60 CCA is something I would recommend for boats. It is special order and comes in limited sizes. It is not allowed for interior use on homes, but good for deck framing. The building codes are now requiring that the cut ends have to be treated with something like copper naphthenate. There is a small market for all wood house foundations, which do last if done properly. I hope so anyway as mine is 35 years old. If this was Australia, I would recommend turpentine, the wood, not the solvent.
I have used some of the various Great Stuff gap filling foams. They are very light, the tds says 14 psi tensile strength and 1 lb/cu ft density. The advantech subfloor claims 500 psi shear and I could assume great stuff might be similar. They tend to form very large bubbles in thick sections. In my experience, when they dry slowly the bubbles coalesce, which makes for larger voids. I fooled with some on a foamy trailer topper for a utility trailer, just to get a feel for foam structures and how to build a small camper. The Great stuff landscape foam seems to be stronger than the gap filler. It costs more, but it seems more durable. I would not consider the gap filler for planking, but that's just my opinion. I'll go as far as maybe on the landscape filler, but would be more confident in the subfloor adhesive but I have not tried it.
Another foam that has garnered a poor reputation for open or lightly clamped joint strength is Gorilla glue. It also forms very large bubbles in gaps, but that can be controlled to some extent by adding some wood flour and or fumed silica. As a gap filler, it may have some, albeit messy, utility. Still not a flexible foam. It does fill nail holes and cracks reasonably well, and with silica it is noticeably harder. Just for grins, I tried a gorilla glue/fiberglass composite. Epoxy it isn't, but for a quick and dirty sawdust vent elbow on a radial arm saw it was adequate. I wanted a way to attach a dust collector hose. The inside of the shape was carved from styrofoam. It was wrapped in fiberglass with some slightly wood flour thickened gorilla glue. There isn't much foaming since it was thin and the gas could escape. The styrofoam disappears with acetone. It worked well even if it does look like dung. Not a glowing recommendation, but in an 18 oz bottle it isn't any more expensive than epoxy. Another tool in the box for mickey mouse repairs. Gorilla glue doesn't age well since moisture in the air can get through the bottle and thicken it. Use it or loose it in a matter of months, so I used it up.
