DAP 3.0 ‘Crystal Clear’ Sealant Turns Yellow After Application, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges DAP Products’ “crystal clear” kitchen, bathroom and plumbing sealant turns yellow within several weeks to months after application, making the product worth far less than consumers have paid.

The 32-page complaint alleges DAP has been aware of the sealant’s yellowing defect since at least 2012 thanks to years’ worth of customer complaints yet continues to market, advertise and label the sealant as clear. According to the lawsuit, DAP has gone so far as to attempt to conceal the “defective nature” of its sealant by misleadingly “diluting” overwhelmingly negative customer reviews rather than address the discoloration issue.

“Defendant’s representations regarding its product’s clarity caused Plaintiff to pay significantly more for DAP Clear Sealant than he would have otherwise,” the complaint asserts. “Plaintiff’s experience with DAP Clear Sealant and his injuries caused by DAP’s misrepresentations are typical of a class of consumers who purchased DAP Clear Sealant.”

Sealants are used to create watertight seals around tiles, sinks and other bathroom and kitchen fixtures, the complaint relays. Given the fact the sealant used in kitchens and bathrooms is often visible, a sealant’s color is material to consumers, the suit states, noting that the defendant’s product is available in almond, clear, crystal clear and white. 

Though DAP claims its “crystal clear” sealant “allows the beauty of the surface to shine through,” the truth realized by consumers is that the product will begin to turn yellow weeks to months after installation, the lawsuit alleges. According to the suit, customers have described the color the product turns as “amber,” “yellow,” “urine yellow” and “the most awful yellow color you’ve ever seen.”

In addition to toying with reviews on high-traffic websites, such as Home Depot’s product page for DAP Clear Sealant, the defendant ran a promotion around March 2018 for which the company sent consumers individual samples of the sealant in exchange for a review. As the lawsuit tells it, the promotion yielded “a substantial number of positive reviews” for DAP, with the “uncharacteristically positive” remarks clustered between March and April 2018.

“In these two months alone, DAP collected 35 positive reviews—six times the previous number of positive reviews from the past eight years—that were written because of the promotion,” the complaint says, charging that the short time frame in which the rosy remarks were collected evidences the fact that the reviews were written before discoloration occurred. 

“Through its efforts, DAP created a false impression as to the quality of DAP Clear Sealant,” the lawsuit alleges.

The case looks to represent anyone in the U.S. who, from August 31, 2014 through the present, bought DAP 3.0 Crystal Clear Kitchen, Bath and Plumbing Sealant for their own use and not for resale. 

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