Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA duct
work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are very high
grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?
..
One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take for duct
sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.

What is your ducting made of? If sheet metal, I would imagine that
there are tapes at the box stores that would be satisfactory. The main
thing is that the surface MUST be perfectly clean and dry for it to
stick properly. The duct sealing mastics I use dry within a couple of
hours, but then I'm in S.Tx, so it may take longer at your lower temps,
and of course it will also depend on how thick it is put on. Larry

"JohnnyC" wrote in message ...
Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA duct
work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are very high
grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?
.
One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take for duct
sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.



BORG tapes can be good, but they have cheap crap too. Make sure the tape
has the UL mark and is listed. Natulusha tape (not sure how to spell it) is
good stuff.

On Dec 21, 6:34 am, (lp13-30) wrote:
What is your ducting made of? If sheet metal, I would imagine that
there are tapes at the box stores that would be satisfactory. The main
thing is that the surface MUST be perfectly clean and dry for it to
stick properly. The duct sealing mastics I use dry within a couple of
hours, but then I'm in S.Tx, so it may take longer at your lower temps,
and of course it will also depend on how thick it is put on. Larry

Agree with you. Pre-cleanup is a must. The best tape is made by
Eternabond.

http://www.eternabond.com/

You can find it on ebay. Various widths are offered, with an aluminum
color. The toughest part will be to seal edges that you cannot see
(could be hidden). You need a roller to press the tape up against the
metal. A primer is offered if you really want to seal tight.

"JohnnyC" wrote in :

Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA
duct work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are
very high grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?
.
One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take for
duct sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.



For tapes check out http://covalenceadhesives.com/Search.aspx

The are the same people that make Polyken that you often see pros use.
They make Nashua as well.

Specialty Search will very nicely walk you through a requirements menu
and give you the products that fit. You can even specify UL
requirements.

On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:10:51 -0500, "JohnnyC" wrote:

Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA duct
work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are very high
grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?
.
One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take for duct
sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.


As was explained to me, the tape should be UL-181 rated. I dont know
if you have a Menards in your area, but I bought a roll there. They
had both UL spec'd and non-UL spec'd tape. Regular foil tape was
approx $5 per roll, UL-181 rated tape was approx $15. The tape has
the word "UL-181" printed all over its surface.

-dickm

On Dec 21, 12:09*pm, dicko wrote:
On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:10:51 -0500, "JohnnyC" wrote:
Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA duct
work. *Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are very high
grade? *Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?
.
One more...this is heating season in NE. *How long does it take for duct
sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.

As was explained to me, the tape should be UL-181 rated. *I dont know
if you have a Menards in your area, but I bought a roll there. *They
had both UL spec'd and non-UL spec'd tape. Regular foil tape was
approx $5 per roll, UL-181 rated tape was approx $15. *The tape has
the word "UL-181" printed all over its surface.

-dickm

I used "Polyken 239 Smacna" (can't read anything more on the only
joint still exposed. That was 20 years ago, no special cleaning done
and it is as solid as when I applied it. I think I could have patched
the Titanic with that stuff - seemed to stick to anything withing 5 ft
when I was trying to apply it and once it touched it was pretty much
there until the sun goes nova.

The lumberyard didn't warn me and I got a sticker shock when the bill
came in for that roll. Don't recall what it was, but it was _high_.

Harry K

"JohnnyC" wrote in :

Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal FHA
duct work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner that are
very high grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough to do the job?

As long at it's FOIL and not that grey cloth stuff you should be fine.

One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take for
duct sealing mastic take to dry?

The foil is pretty sticky to start with. Never had a problem with it letting
go at all.

It may be easiest to paint on duct sealer such as Childers CP11 or
equal. The material should be readily available at any commercial
duct/insulation supply house, comes in gallon buckets, super easy
to work, and dries in less than an hour (subject to site
conditions). It can be reinforced with nylon mesh, though should
not be required.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"JohnnyC" wrote in message
...
Last night on "Ask TOH", they had a guy who showed how to seal
FHA duct work. Are there foil tapes available to a homeowner
that are very high grade? Is the stuff at the BORG good enough
to do the job?
.
One more...this is heating season in NE. How long does it take
for duct sealing mastic take to dry?

Thanks.