Tremco’s PVC tapes ... extensive usage.
Tremco tapes are a vital sealing aid
01 May 2010
THE last two decades have seen significant developments in detailing solutions in facades and cladding systems due in no small part to advancement in sealing tape and membrane technology.
Different base materials and product compositions afford different technical properties, characteristics and performance, allowing specialists in the field to offer modern, clean, efficient and aesthetic detailing solutions, in many cases replacing traditional wet sealants.
One such specialist is the UK-based Tremco illbruck, which offers a comprehensive range of such complex product solutions including foam and butyl-based sealing tapes, adhesive tapes and membranes.
Elaborating on these tapes, a spokesman for the company says: “Foam sealing tapes create a fast and clean seal between two substrates and – depending on the base material of the product – can prevent the passage of sound, air, dust, fire and moisture. Butyl-based sealing tapes provide an excellent water vapour barrier, in addition to exceptional adhesive properties. Double-sided adhesive tapes can, in some cases, replace mechanical fixings or wet adhesives. Membranes protect against the passage of air or moisture between elements of the facade or between the facade and the substructure.”
Tremco illbruck has extensive experience in the field to provide solutions to all aspects of a building envelope or facade.
One segment that makes wide use of sealing tapes is metal cladding, composite panel cladding and other steel construction. All connections and contacts in steel construction are usually equipped with some form of foam sealing tape. For example, simple metal-to-metal connections often receive a polyethylene tape to create a soft connection to prevent vibration, avoid thermal bridges, and create a barrier to dust, draughts and sound.
“Polyethylene foam tapes are basic low-cost solutions, easy and fast to apply,” explains the spokesman. “Tremco illbruck supplies PVC (polyvinyl chloride) foam tapes, which are produced in various densities depending upon their use. For example, lower density tapes may provide seals against draught, dust and noise, whereas higher density materials have enhanced durability and flexibility and excellent sealing properties against moisture and humidity while very high density tapes are able to seal against water or are sometimes used in critical connections of heavy steel construction.”
Dry sealants in metal cladding are the most effective, fastest, safest, cleanest and most efficient sealing solution, he adds.
Sandwich panels manufactured from steel sheets over a polyurethane core in the factory and assembled on site are widely used in industrial and commercial cladding. Tremco illbruck supplies a wide range of products for both in-plant production and on-site assembly.
“The most important seal in sandwich panel construction is the connection between two panels, generally called ‘the lock’. A tape is applied to this point during production,” the spokesman continues. “The company supplies both polyethylene (PE) and polyurethane (PU) foam tapes, with or without adhesive and with various types of backing (grid, mesh and aluminium), which is adhered to the polyurethane panel core itself during production. For these industrial applications, the tapes – which insulate against heat, draughts, moisture and fire – are supplied wound on large spools.”
Many other tapes and sealants from the Tremco illbruck’s portfolio can then used during the site installation.
Brickwork and precast concrete facades and construction joints also need to be sealed with flexible sealants. Traditionally in the Gulf, Tremco illbruck has for many years supplied bespoke PU sealants for this purpose. However the trend now, particularly in Europe, is to utilise precompressed impregnated tapes, manufactured by Tremco illbruck in Germany under the illmod brand name. Tremco illbruck is considered to be the biggest manufacturer of precompressed impregnated foam tapes in the world.
These tapes are based on foamed PU with an open cell internal structure throughout and impregnated by dispersion. The result is a highly durable and flexible PU foam which, due to the impregnation, provides a superb seal against the weather, especially wind and driving rain, he explains.
“The tape is supplied in rolls, precompressed to roughly 20 per cent of its original thickness. Precompression allows the tape to be applied into existing joints, whereupon the tape expands to close the joint and creates the seal, capable of accommodating a wide degree of thermal or structural movement. Again this method of weather-sealing joints is fast, clean and safe with no wastage, whilst being aesthetically pleasing,” the spokesman elaborates.
Glass facades including structural glazing represent a key segment for Tremco illbruck as the company produces a large range of silicone sealants and gaskets including Proglaze II structural silicone. As part of its complete product portfolio for this market, the company also manufactures structural glazing spacer tapes, based on PU or PVC. These tapes can have adhesive to one or both sides – depending upon the application – are fully silicone compatible and are of sufficiently high density to maintain the precise required distance between IG (insulated glazing) unit and subframe, ensuring the correct thickness of structural silicone is achieved. In curtain-walls, butyl tapes are normally applied to provide a waterproof barrier over the joint between aluminium sections, then covered with an aluminium cover plate, and a seal against air movement and moisture between the aluminium and the concrete/steel substructure is normally achieved with an EPDM foil or membrane. Tremco illbruck can provide all of these solutions.
Double-sided tapes based on PE, PVC or PU help contractors and designers to create attractive details with different trims, aluminium sections and glass, by eliminating a mechanical fix.
“The ever-widening use of tapes and membranes is testimony to their effectiveness in providing efficient technical solutions. The strength of Tremco illbruck is in its individual approach to customers and their projects and in a product range that is not limited to one chemistry or technology, enabling it to offer truly effective solutions to all aspects of sealing the building envelope. Whether on site or in the factory, we can design the best solution to any particular condition or detail. And we believe that this is what differentiates Tremco illbruck and what makes this company unique,” the spokesman concludes.
