Why You Shouldn’t Overlook Butyls for Construction Applications
Butyl adhesives are not typically considered for construction tape applications. This is because they have a high viscosity and a tendency to cold flow. However, when working with the right supplier, these same characteristics actually enable butyl adhesives to be an ideal construction tape solution.
Butyl Adhesive Characteristics
The following butyl adhesive characteristics make them beneficial for certain end-use applications:
- Extreme weather stability
- Excellent low temperature flexibility
- Very good gap filling capabilities
- Aggressive adhesion
- Superior environmental resistance
In particular, these applications are:
- Window flashing
Able to displace asphalt compounds, butyl adhesive tapes offer self-healing properties and a wide variety of performance characteristics.
- Shear joints
With superior water resistance, butyl adhesive tapes are ideal for overlapping shear joints to facilitate expansion and contraction.
- Road marking
Butyl adhesives also possess stress dissipation and chemical resistance, making them a good option for road marking tape.
The Right Supplier for Butyl Adhesive Construction Tape
While butyl adhesive’s characteristics lend the technology well to construction tape applications, converters have typically steered elsewhere. This is because of difficulties associated with manufacturing and applying them.
However, Bostik is able to do this work for the converters. With onsite coating capabilities, specialized butyl manufacturing lines and a dedicated technical service team, Bostik is able to formulate and convert butyl technology into easy-to-use end-use butyl adhesives. Additionally, Bostik offers the internal capability to transfer 1 mil. to 40 mil. of adhesive coating, providing converters with ready-made construction tape.