Flex Seal - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

LOUISIVLLE, KY (WAVE) - Since I began the 'Try It Before You Buy It' segment on WAVE-3, there's consistently been one product viewers request me to test over and over again. That product would be the 'Flex Seal' liquid rubber sealant. The commercials for the product have been running for over a year, and it claims to do some pretty amazing stuff when it comes to fixing all types of leaks. Including sealing a hole in a fishing boat that's been filled with a screen door! This week I 'Try It Before You Buy It.'

'Flex Seal' touts itself as the premiere sealant. The company that makes the product says it will fix roof leaks, gutters, skylights, hoses and the list goes on and on. At my house I've been having issues with a leaky gutter. I've already had to replace and paint the wood outside my back door due to the water constantly dripping off the gutter and down on the wood, peeling the paint off and damaging the wood itself.  So that area was the first for me to test the sealant power of the almighty 'Flex Seal.'

According to the directions on the can, you're suppose to shake the can vigorously for at least a minute to get it all good and mixed up. Than spray the rubber sealant in light sweeping motions all around your suspected leak area. Instead of putting down one thick coat, the directions suggest you put down several light coats. And be warned....this stuff stinks to high heaven! There's warnings on the can about how dangerous it is to inhale the vapors so make sure you only use the product in a well ventilated area!

After spraying the 'Flex Seal' on two of the suspected leak areas, I left it along for a while to dry. Oddly enough, the directions on the can say nothing about cure time and how long you should wait before expecting the product to seal anything! With that in mind, I went along to my next project, fixing a leak in my sump pump pipe.

Whenever it rains heavily and my outdoor sump pump kicks on, the seal around the exit line always leaks. Sometimes to the point the extra water begins to run in through my basement door. I took the 'Flex Seal' and sprayed it around the seal repeatedly. Keep in mind, if you don't want the rubber sealant getting on ANYTHING nearby, make sure you use a towel, plastic sheeting or newspaper to protect anything around your project area.

About 30 minutes passed so I thought I would check the condition of the gutters. The 'Flex Seal' was still very tacky and soft. But due to deadline that I had for the story, I went ahead and ran water through the gutter to see if my leaks were sealed. I was surprised that even though the 'Flex Seal' hadn't completely setup, it still did seal on of my leaks. The second part of the gutter that had been leaking was, well, still leaking at this point. However, I think I may not have sprayed enough of the 'Flex Seal' around the seam to properly seal it. At this point I knew it was going to take quite some time before the 'Flex Seal' was going to setup completely so I chose to wait to test it's sealing ability on my sump pump pipe. With the amount of water pressure that goes through that plumbing, I could just see the water spewing out of the pipe once I turned the pump on. To be fair to the 'Flex Seal' people, I decided to wait another day or to for the product to set and then perform my test.

Although a complete test of the product wasn't able to be done, the initial gutter seal test does appear to work. Stay tuned for part 2 of 'Try It Before You Buy It' - 'Testing the 'Flex Seal' coming in Spring.