Why Butyl vs Caulk under roof vent flange?
What is the primary advantage of butyl tape vs just using Dicor or similar caulk (not silicone) under roof vents, windows, trim etc? That bubble gum seems to never stop oozing. I'm not taking things a...
Forum Discussion
enblethen is correct - caulk or lap sealant will end up gluing it down, making it difficult if not impossible to remove without damaging things in the future. It's hard enough removing lap sealant when it's just on the surface. DrewE is also correct - good quality butyl tape won't dry out in a long, long time. But beware, there's also putty tape which is sometimes sold as butyl tape, but isn't. It's more like plumbers putty in tape form. Butyl tape will stretch until it's very thin. Putty tape won't.
Butyl tape (not caulk) is a bedding compound, it's meant to be squished between things to seal them. Dicor is a company which makes many products, including both butyl tape and lap sealant. One can only assume you're talking about their lap sealant, which is popular around here. The name says it all - it's a lap sealant, it's meant to overlap a seam. And, it's self-leveling, so is not suitable for anything on the sidewalls, it will just run and make a mess.
You bed a roof vent in butyl tape, screw it down, wait a day or two for it to squish out the edges, remove what comes out, then cover the seams and screws with lap sealant. Similar for sidewall stuff, except you caulk the edges - I use Sikaflex 221, which I prefer to the Geocel Proflex often mentioned around here, for a number of reasons.
Butyl tape (not caulk) is a bedding compound, it's meant to be squished between things to seal them. Dicor is a company which makes many products, including both butyl tape and lap sealant. One can only assume you're talking about their lap sealant, which is popular around here. The name says it all - it's a lap sealant, it's meant to overlap a seam. And, it's self-leveling, so is not suitable for anything on the sidewalls, it will just run and make a mess.
You bed a roof vent in butyl tape, screw it down, wait a day or two for it to squish out the edges, remove what comes out, then cover the seams and screws with lap sealant. Similar for sidewall stuff, except you caulk the edges - I use Sikaflex 221, which I prefer to the Geocel Proflex often mentioned around here, for a number of reasons.
