Putty or butyl tape?

BobsYourUncle wrote:


snip..

On the other side of this, I once had the misfortune of taking out an entry door I had sealed in place with butyl. What a chore, what a mess, and as you say, the bond held fast to both surfaces while I had to break the butyl itself apart. I had a miserable time getting the door out, but not one drop of water made it past my sealing job.

Thanks for the good words Bob. Much appreciated.

The heat gun is your friend and a real need in doing camper repair work dealing with putty tape or butyl. Like you said, the butyl bond is really good, you have to warm it enough to help it let go and not mess up the moldings in the process. Then it is not so bad.

To get the butyl off the molding or siding once they are apart, warm it then scrape. Get the butyl or putty tape as thin as you can with the scrapers. Then with a rag and mineral spirts, soak a little and rub. The mineral spirts will softened up and start dissolving the butyl/putty tape and not harm the paint. A side effect though of mineral sprits (MS) is it leaves a film. Before I reassemble the parts I clean off the surfaces with a high flash cleaner, one that works to remove the MS film, any tiny bits of butyl or putty tape left, evaporates off fast, and not affect the paint. I use Naphtha as it will cut any tiny bits of left over tape, take the grim off and evaporate quick. Aluminum siding or fiberglass I work the same way.

Some have used denatured alcohol (DA) as the high flash cleaner, and it will work to take the oil film off from the MS, but it will not touch any tiny left over bits of butyl or putty tape. I tried DA, but went back to the Naphtha. The little in cost difference for the Naphtha is not that much. I use this brand, SunnySide
https://www.sunnysidecorp.com/product.php?p=t&b=s&n=80032

For sure do not use acetone, that is too powerful, it will take the paint right off the aluminum siding unless you are after the Air Stream look;).