Butyl Rubber Caulk vs 4200 ? Others ?

[Feral Cement]

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. What I think I've learned:

1) 5200 is forever.

2) 4200 is $15 a tube. Good stuff, pricey.

3) Silicon works OK, but contaminates everything and mildews.

4) Butyl rubber is excellent and cheap, but my local Home Depot does not sell it.

Q's: What else from HD or Lowes will work as well as the $15+ boat sealants? I saw one product with "synthetic rubber" but the guy at the factory said "overkill" and suggested instead (better sit down) Polyseamseal, an exterior latex caulk - says it stays flexible, has moderate adhesion qualities, no silicon, mildew resistant.

This is for LL stanchions, cleats, blocks, handles, rails, etc. on my Catalina 27. If Lifecaulk or 4200 is the only sensible way to go, let me hear it; if there are options, spill yer guts.

Thanks,

John

[Target9000]

Don't let home depot not carrying something stop you. Find your nearest RV center and ask if they carry the grey Butyl tape. We bought a roll that would rebed everything on deck around 10 times for 9.99.

[Feral Cement]

I thought I remembered (yes, dicey at best) something in a thread long ago about butyl in a tube, like caulk, and in white. That seems easy enough - mask around object, squirt, bolt, wipe excess, take long pull of beverage, proceed to next object.

Anyone remember that?

T9K - What's the process for the tape? How wide is it? How do you handle items wider than the tape?

Thanks,

John

[Gracias]

I just a few minutes ago finished reading this EXCELLENT "how-to" on using butyl tape to bed deck hardware:

Bedding Deck Hardware With Butyl Tape - SailNet Community

The photos and step-by-step instructions leave nothing out.

Rebecca

[Christian Van H]

Maine Sail is a member here too. He REALLY knows his stuff. No butyl below the waterline though...
Here's his link to the good stuff: http://mobilehomepartsstore.com/Merc...tegory_Code=RC

[Bloodhound]

Many thanks for the link, Gracias. Excellent instructional, and something I wish I'd known about a looong time ago.

[stevensc]

I have bought it at Lowes it is used to seal metal roofing ask for it in that department as sealing material for roof panels they may not know it is actually made of Butyl rubber it is sold in a roll about 50' long $7.00 if I remember right works very well and easy to store the roll flat on it's side.
You should also be able to find it at true value or ace hardware stores.
Good luck
Steve

[waterworldrob]

Sika Flex construction sealant works as good as 5200, don't use latex anything on things you care about... For bedding things you want to remove eventually use Dolphinite...

[Ram]

Originally Posted by waterworldrob

Sika Flex construction sealant works as good as 5200, don't use latex anything on things you care about... For bedding things you want to remove eventually use Dolphinite...

As a past roofing contractor I had a big job where I used many cases of this Sika Flex that was specked for the gutters and all of it failed- 5000 feet of gutter leaked at almost every joint- Sika was kind enought to give me new caulk but the school board had to pay for the R&R and that was 10s of thousands of $- seems they had a bad batch- I would not use this stuff for my dog house- 5200 has never failed me in 40 years

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

You can buy Butyl from Newfound metals. He sells it for his portholes but they'll sell it to you standalone I'm sure.

We used the extra from our portholes to rebed our chainplates.
S/V Deep Playa - Pearson 424 : We're looking for the trash fence

-p

[roverhi]

Butyl is what they use for sealing auto windshields. It's available in a rope form a about 1/4"-3/8" diameter at most auto parts stores. Unfortunately it's only in black. You have to go to the RV stores to get grey or white. Butyl in a tube should be available at most roofing supply stores.

[waterworldrob]

LOL goes to show we all have our opinions and they all stink sometimes.. I have several dinghys glued with this stuff, you couldn't tear them apart with a crowbar.. I even pumped this crap into an underwater leak in the Miss. river and it cured fine.. Perhaps you didn't apply it correctly? I have never had it fail, even after 20 years. Oh well..

[roverhi]

It's my understanding that SikaFlex and 5200 are both Polyurethane sealants. Polyurethane and Polysulfides both cure faster and seal better if there is water around, like underwater. If you had a problem with SikaFlex assume you had a bad batch which seems to be the case. I still don't like polyurethanes and prefer polysulfide like LifeCaulk or 3M 101 for things I don't want to leak.

Butyl works best in areas where the semi solid state of the butyl is an advantage. In my case, around the windows where the flange barely covered the hole the window was filling. Needed something with some bulk to stay in place. It also works well where there will be movement of the fitting as Butyl is exceptionally elastic will stretch a long long way like rubber, which it is. It doesn't have the glue like properties of Polyurethane so also is a good sealant for parts that will probably be removed or replaced in the forseeable future. Butyl will not stick to wet/moist surfaces. I found that an advantage in R&Ring the large cabin window on my boat. I wet the cabind side, slid the window with the butyl caulking in place into the puka, positioned and braced it in place and then waited for the water to evaporate before tightening down the fasteners. Since butyl doesn't really cure like a caulk, it remains sticky.

[Bloodhound]

Originally Posted by stevensc

I have bought it at Lowes it is used to seal metal roofing ask for it in that department as sealing material for roof panels they may not know it is actually made of Butyl rubber it is sold in a roll about 50' long $7.00 if I remember right works very well and easy to store the roll flat on it's side.
You should also be able to find it at true value or ace hardware stores.
Good luck
Steve

I tried Lowe's but they only had 1-inch putty-like tape that will dry out and crack over time. But the local RV store had a stack of butyl tape for 8 bucks and change per roll. Has to be kept dry and cool and will last several years in a a good airtight ziplock bag

[Blue Stocking]

You can get butyl rubber in tubes and tape form from any commercial glass and glazing company. Just about every piece of glass you can see in any commercial building is bedded in the stuff. I personally have put hundreds of pounds of it in place when I owned my glass company.

The construction industry standard warranty is 10 years on glazing and caulking material by the way.