Green Building Forum - air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

splashie — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:28:50 +0100

Hi

long time since been on the forum. Now doing the air guard (dupont vapour barrier) and the tape availing for our merchants seems to be just American duct tape. This orange stuff is great, not like the awful cheaper stuff that fails quickly, but I'm worried that it's not specified for the job (yet been recommended it)

Is this a case of a cheaper product is fine or do we need some form of fancy tape that won't ever deteriorate?
will the better stuff really be 'better'?
Surely tape fails eventually (10 years?) and it only let's a wee bit of air in anyway?

thanks in advance!

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Paul in Montreal — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 21:22:57 +0100

This is what we use in Canada - it is NOT duct tape:

http://www.cansave.ca/tucktape

Paul in Montreal.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 06:13:51 +0100

I agree, the tape available in most builders merchants is rather cheap and nasty and if you ask specifically for air tightness tape you get blank looks.

I purchased some branded vapour membrane tape recently which looked good on the roll but in use was rather poor, it went misty when wet and I've noticed the bit still exposed to the air, the backing layer has come away from the reinforced adhesive layer.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Nick Parsons — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:09:45 +0100

They are by no stretch of the imagination cheap, but I have been impressed with Pro Clima and Siga tapes. For me, known performance is worth paying a bit more for.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Sprocket — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:12:40 +0100

Another vote for Pro Clima here. Tescon No 1 in our build.
I can only vouch for it at a couple of years old but it looks promising.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Greenfish — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 12:18:58 +0100

Another vote for Pro Clima. I have used Vana for various things including clothing repair! Pieces stuck on my overalls and boots for over a year, been through everything and still holding fast. Duck tape is poor by comparison.

Bought mine from Germany on Ebay, best price and delivered quickly too.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 16:06:25 +0100

Posted By: GreenfishAnother vote for Pro Clima. I have used Vana for various things including clothing repair! Pieces stuck on my overalls and boots for over a year, been through everything and still holding fast.

The carpenters reckon my house is held together by sticky tape! It's mostly Pro Clima, which is very good, but there is also some Siga because their Rissan is very flexible, their Corvum comes in a pre-folded version and their Sicrall is VERY sticky, so they got used where appropriate.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

woodgnome — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 18:24:56 +0100

Posted By: Greenfish

Bought mine from Germany on Ebay, best price and delivered quickly too.

Do you have a link to the seller?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

alexc — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 19:50:41 +0100

Tescon no 1 , pro clima.

Currently using it to repair my jeans. Some has been on for around 10 washes now. Some material fading but the material looks still fully bonded. i stuck a piece on each side of holes. I wear the jeans often..
Same colour as new jeans, fades a tad bit quicker in the wash.

I have been wondering about staples.
Could you not just get some wood style glue and paste it over the staple forming a seal?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Greenfish — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 20:10:24 +0100

woodgnome - "Do you have a link to the seller"

Discussed in this thread http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=11114

In the end I needed one more roll (it seems to vanish especially as it has so many uses!), and had family call into a shop in Sutton Coldfield that stocked it.

Do you think Pro Clima know so many of us are wearing their tape?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Cerisy — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 20:31:58 +0100

I ended up buying boxes of Tescon No 1, Tescon Profil and the primer from daemmstoffhandel-de on German eBay, although I paid him directly into his business bank account rather than through Paypal.

Very helpful, great price and not much of a delay due to the delivery!

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Hairlocks — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 16:13:33 +0100

I left a bit of Pro Clima sitck out behind the plaster board on a window frame. Pain in the neck to get off.

Now, I am sure I have a little lying around somewhere, off to repair my jeans.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

splashie — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 21:25:59 +0100

hello
Here's a wee update

Despite my concerns, and you guys backing me up, we did the American tape stuff over the flaps where the membrane joins. Then our friend in air tightness cam rounds and shook his head and said the tape would definitely fail at some point! ho hum. Not so bad as many most our joints are behind studs for the plasterboard and this seals them up. We just need to go back over the exposed bits in the service void. We did not so bad after all.

Next on list is to get the tape I need......

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 08:32:05 +0100

I also tested duct tape and it started to peel off and curl at the edges after about 24 hours.

A new local house construction site is using a bright red air tightness tape and a silver membrane, something I've not seen before.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 09:08:01 +0100

Posted By: TriassicI also tested duct tape and it started to peel off and curl at the edges after about 24 hours.

Whenever I want tape to stick well, I carefully rub over the back of it with something hard but smooth (I generally use the handle of a brush or the back of my knife). That seems to help a lot but it still doesn't make duct tape suitable for airtightness.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Cerisy — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 22:01:20 +0100

The Tescon tape has just passed the washing machine test - I used it to repair my well worn site jacket. Brilliant!

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

wookey — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 02:44:51 +0100

gaffer/duck/duct tape does indeed vary in quality, but it's designed to be relatively easy to get off, and the glue always dries out after a couple or 5 years. At which point it is barely stuck on any longer. IMHO it's useless as airtightness tape for more than 2 years.

I've used lots of tescon and it's great. Also some Dafa and that was good too. I believe the sika stuff is just as good. None of them are cheap, although Dafa was cheapest. I have also used ali foil tape for joining foil surfaces. It's lasted 5 years exposed so far with almost no peeling so it's better than gaffer, but nothing like as convincing as proper airtightness tape.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 18:12:36 +0100

I've often wondered, why is air tightness tape so expensive compared to other types of tape?

And another thing, if air tightness is so important and a current requirement for new builds, how come builders merchants and Screwfix and the like don't stock it?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Paul in Montreal — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 18:31:26 +0100

Posted By: TriassicAnd another thing, if air tightness is so important and a current requirement for new builds, how come builders merchants and Screwfix and the like don't stock it?

The current UK standard for air tightness is so leaky that no tapes are required.

Over here in Canada, the tapes are not expensive because they are ubiquitous.

Paul in Montreal.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 19:33:34 +0100

Posted By: wookeygaffer/duck/duct tape does indeed vary in quality, but it's designed to be relatively easy to get off, and the glue always dries out after a couple or 5 years. At which point it is barely stuck on any longer. IMHO it's useless as airtightness tape for more than 2 years.

When my groundworkers put the stub soil pipes through the slab, they covered the ends with g/d/d tape. It's now about 18 months later and its noticeable that I recently had to retape those that are still not properly terminated because the tape had perished.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 19:35:24 +0100

Posted By: Triassichow come builders merchants and Screwfix and the like don't stock it?

You can get it from builders merchants but they've no idea what they're selling and they're very expensive, so no point going there.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 21:06:43 +0100

You can get it from builders merchants but they've no idea what they're selling and they're very expensive, so no point going there.

I tried five, starting with Jewson and TP, then three local places.I asked each of them if they had tenting and non-renting roof membrane and air tightness tape, all I got was blank looks. Not one stocked the tape.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 21:57:43 +0100

Posted By: Triassicair tightness tape, all I got was blank looks. Not one stocked the tape

They don't stock it and as at least one manufacturer has told me 'they may not even realize they have an account with us but they can buy anything in our range'. You need to ask for a specific product rather than a generic, I believe. PS Note that I'm no fan of builders merchants; I buy most stuff off the intertubes.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

JC48 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 22:03:22 +0100

Proclima Contega sl ordered from German Ebay is almost half uk price with DHL delivery costs similar to the UK price google translate sorts out the language

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 22:04:19 +0100

The rules around air tightness came in 5 years ago, yet when I go into the two national builders merchants and they don't stock a range of air tightness products, not good enough!!

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

wookey — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 22:21:44 +0100

Yeah I'm irritated that this is still not a line carried by BMs and the screwfix/toolstations of this world. It's the sort of thing you run out of at awkward moments and being able to dash down to screwfix would be really helpful.

They used to have a prominent place to recommend new things to carry, but no longer. So I've just emailed asking if this is likely to get fixed soon.

And yes, I've been buying it off ebay.de too.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

ringi — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 09:30:26 +0100

Why don't one of you buy a BIG box from ebay.de and start selling it on ebay.uk?

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

gravelld — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:21:46 +0100

Posted By: TriassicThe rules around air tightness came in 5 years ago, yet when I go into the two national builders merchants and they don't stock a range of air tightness products, not good enough!!

Pretty sure the rules around air tightness are not demanding enough to require tape.

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

djh — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 21:24:36 +0100

I think a big problem for BMs and perhaps Screwfix et al is stock turnover. I don't remember about the tapes but the semi-liquid adhesive products have sell-by dates. So as long as the manufacturers keep increasing their ranges its problematic for anybody to keep stock in their branches. And if they have to ship it from a hub then (a) it isn't the instant gratification that you want and (b) internet/mail-order specialists can match the service without the overheads.

Oh and the reason I care about the sell-by-dates is the manufacturers' warranty. Hoist by their own petard!

air tightness... what tape to seal over staples? American duct tape ok?

Triassic — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 22:20:06 +0100

Posted By: Paul in MontrealOver here in Canada, the tapes are not expensive because they are ubiquitous.

Paul in Montreal.

So Tucktape is 9 Dollars in Canada, so that's Â£5. Wow that's a bargain, wonder what the shipping costs would be?