One 20 fl oz sausage holds about 590 ml. How far that goes depends entirely on the cross-section of the joint you are filling.
In a hurry? Put the joint and the run into the calculator and it gives you the case count, the waste allowance and the rod diameter in one go.
Quick answers
How many feet of joint does one 20 fl oz sausage fill?
24 ft of a 1/2" x 1/4" joint, 48 ft of a 1/4" x 1/4" joint, and 6 ft of a 1" x 1/2" joint. That is theoretical yield, with nothing allowed for waste.
How far does a case of 20 sausages go?
About 960 ft of a 1/4" x 1/4" joint, or about 120 ft of a 1" x 1/2" joint.
How much extra sealant should I order?
About 10% over the table for tooling loss and uneven joints; closer to 15% on a retrofit where joint widths vary.
How do I work it out for any joint?
A 20 fl oz sausage holds about 36 cubic inches. Divide 36 by width x depth in inches, then divide by 12 for feet.
Linear feet per sausage
| Joint width x depth | Feet per sausage |
|---|---|
| 1/4" x 1/4" | 48 ft |
| 3/8" x 1/4" | 32 ft |
| 1/2" x 1/4" | 24 ft |
| 1/2" x 3/8" | 16 ft |
| 3/4" x 3/8" | 10.7 ft |
| 1" x 1/2" | 6 ft |
Per case of 20, multiply by twenty: a case covers about 960 ft of a 1/4" x 1/4" joint, or about 120 ft of a 1" x 1/2" joint.
The arithmetic, if you want to check it
Multiply width by depth in inches to get the cross-section in square inches. A 20 fl oz sausage holds about 36 cubic inches. Divide 36 by the cross-section to get inches of joint, then divide by 12 for feet. So a 1/2" x 1/4" joint is 0.125 sq in: 36 ÷ 0.125 = 288 inches, which is 24 ft per sausage.
The calculator runs exactly this arithmetic — same constant, same divisions — so the two will never disagree.
Order about 10% over, and here is why
The table is a theoretical yield. Two things push real usage above it:
- Tooling loss. What you strike off the bead does not go back in the gun.
- The joint is not the drawing. Widths vary along a real run, especially on a retrofit, and you fill what is there, not what was specified.
Ten percent is the usual allowance. On a retrofit with variable joints, closer to fifteen.
Depth is set by the backer rod, not by luck
Those numbers assume you are controlling depth. Without a backer rod the sealant sinks to whatever depth the joint happens to be, and your usage goes up with it — a 1/2" x 1/2" joint takes twice the sealant of the same joint held at 1/2" x 1/4". The rod costs less than the sealant it saves. How to pick the diameter.
Volume pricing
From 20 cases of the same sealant the price drops automatically in the cart — no account, no code. The tiers are published in full here. Work out the case count first, and if the job needs more than a pallet, press Get Volume Pricing on the product page and we will quote that quantity with the freight to your ZIP.