Tag: Construction Tape

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Construction Materials-Success with Construction Tapes

This post originally appeared in the August/September 2022 issue of Fine Homebuilding Magazine.  Choosing the Right Construction Tape for the Job – Fine Homebuilding

Walk through any modern construction project and you’re bound to see construction tape somewhere on the site.  Whether it’s taping the seams of a mechanically attached water resistive barrier (WRB), flashing a window or door opening, or making sure an air barrier is continuous, tapes have become a key part of many assemblies.  Mostly, we use tapes for two purposes, to keep something in, like the air we pay to condition, or keep something out, like water.  It’s important to use the right product for the right application.

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Construction Materials-A Less Common Sheathing

This post first appeared on the Green Building Advisor’s website.

When I first started working in the trades as an electrician back in the mid 1990’s, we worked for a couple contractors that liked to use buffalo board sheathing.  I suspect the product was given this name because of its resemblance to buffalo chips.  (If you don’t know what a buffalo chip is, you’ll have to look it up, it’s not the kind of chip you eat.)  I’ve heard it called several other names, bildrite, beaver board, brickboard, bagasse, but it is best known as fiberboard sheathing.

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Shorts-Tape Test, Part 2

A few days ago, I posted a test about the cold weather application of construction tapes.  A few of the tapes performed well, but most I expected more from.  Many of these tapes aren’t cheap, some are downright expensive.  I thought a second, quick test was needed at a more normal application temperature (68°F) compared to installations in cold weather.  Here’s what I found.

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Construction Materials-Construction Tapes-Cold Weather Testing

In 1845, a surgeon figured out if he used a little adhesive on a piece of cloth, a “bandage” could be used for wound care, the first tape was invented.  Through the 1900’s, the evolution of tapes continued.  1925 saw the development of masking tape used in painting. In the 1930’s, scotch tape was invented.  This clear tape was hugely popular and had many uses. Water resistant duct tape was invented during World War II, originally designed to seal military ammunition cases.  More recently, the tape evolution has exploded into the construction industry.

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