Did you know there was an online caulk usage calculator?

Each bottle in the wall will have 6 touch points to adjacent bottles (2 top, 2 bottom, 2 sides), so each bottle will have 3 points for caulk application. Assume a ¼” dab per point, which I think is generous. A 10.3 oz tube of caulk with a ¼” bead will cover 24.4 feet (according to the caulk usage calculator).

24.4 x 12 / (3 x .25) = 390 bottles (say 350) per tube

A tube of silicone caulk is about $4.50

For 20,000 bottles, 57 tubes = $256

For 200,000 bottles, 570 tubes = $2,565 (ouch)

This morning I dropped by Lowe’s to pick up caulk (a tube of the cheapest white stuff and a tube of silicone) and a caulk gun. Time to glue some bottles together. Silicone definitely works best. The white stuff is watery and just doesn’t hold, even after drying. The silicone isn’t permanent though. You can still tear it apart. I don’t think there is a solvent available that can glue polyethylene. In fact super glue comes in polyethylene bottles.