It occurred to me that I might share my experiences with different tapes that I've tested during the major extension project I'm working on. I don't have time to conduct overly scientific tests, so this is quite subjective based on my experiences.
It all started with something most people can probably relate to...disappointment with PE film tape that didn't stick. Then came T-Flex, and everyone praised it...except you need to be almost out of your mind to pay between 200 and 300 SEK per roll for flexible film tape. But the concept was very good, so I started looking around and found both T and K-Flex at reasonable prices...and it turned out Byggmax has started stocking ETAB's green flexible film tape in many stores. Then I found tape in Germany that I ordered home...and so it went on
So, I've used a number of different tapes now during the construction, and most are good...but there are some that are real duds!
Let's start with duct tape, as that was the origin of this thread.
- Gorilla tape, Bought at Olsana for the fantastic price of 139 SEK/roll.
Fantastic...strong and sticks to absolutely everything, wet or dry. The glue stays on and can be reused. I've taped on rain-soaked facade boards, and it stays on weeks after through rain and bad weather. The downside is that it's tough to tear off the roll because it sticks so well...
- 3M Duct Tape: Bought at Byggmax for 69 SEK
Completely okay, does what it should. Stays put, although not super strong.
- Tesa 4662, bought at Lantmännen for 79 SEK
What can I say...nice to work with...so I switched out the Gorilla tape for this one for a while when taping interior seams in my underlayment in the ceiling. The underlayment is a diffusion-open variant of the Tyvek Supro Pro model (Bought from England at a good price...but that's another thread). Imagine my surprise when the tape, after a few days, starts coming loose and falling from the ceiling. I got a bit annoyed and sent pictures to Tesa's Swedish office asking if it's possible that I received defective products (It was 3 rolls) or if there are limitations on the product not stated in the instructions... received a snarky response from customer service saying I used the wrong tape for the purpose...and they assumed I taped building plastic with duct tape... the photo is taken from underneath through the plastic, so I can understand the mistake, but poorly handled nonetheless..
WARNING for Tesa simply....now I'm going up to retape the seams with Gorilla tape... which by the way still holds perfectly on the underlayment of what I put up before starting with Tesa...
Tomorrow I will review 4 different building film tapes
Your tape test might not be so crazy, but you are not following the manufacturer's instructions, so whether the tape is good or bad for what you are doing is irrelevant.
Irrelevant it is not. I'm not testing the fabric... I'm testing tapes. And the tape's instructions don't mention any limitations in the area of use, as far as I've found.
The fabric is sealed with Tyvek's own double-sided butyl tape... but the overlap on the fabric is so large that flaps hang down, and it's these that I'm taping up on the inside with the duct tape.
Anyway... I'll write an evaluation of building film tape over the weekend.
