![]() ![]() It can also take place between tape and other common decorative sealer resins such as polyurethanes, epoxies, polyaspartics and polyureas. But don’t let this fool you - the chemical weld between acrylic resins can take place at any time if the right conditions exist. This is why the issue of tape pulling sealers off concrete tends to occur with newer sealed floors. It also took off the top 1/16-inch of the concrete. I’ve seen cases where this bond is so strong that when the tape was removed it did not just pull up the sealer and stain. When you use tape with acrylic glue on a floor with an acrylic sealer still chemically drying, the two acrylic resins can form a very strong and permanent chemical bond. The process may take weeks depending on temperature, humidity and how thick someone applied the sealer.Īnother acid-stained, sealed floor damaged by painter’s tape. The sealer may be dry to the touch one to two days after application, but that doesn’t mean the sealer has completely dried chemically. When you apply an acrylic sealer, you need a certain drying window for the sealer to form that hard-wearing surface. The acrylic resin used in the glue on most tape is similar to the acrylic resins found in most decorative sealers and cure-and-seal products. I think a better term would be glue migration.) Rather, it allows the glue to migrate into the sealer. The plasticizer doesn’t migrate out of the glue. (The term “plasticizer migration” that has been used to describe this phenomenon isn’t completely accurate. When you remove the tape, if that bond between the tape and sealer exceeds the strength of the sealer’s bond to the concrete, the sealer - and often the stain as well - comes off too. Since most decorative sealers have some porosity, the glue migrates into those pores, forming a very strong bond. Those plasticizers allow the glue to flow or “migrate” to form a better bond with the surface. This makes them softer, allowing for a better grip on the road. For example, high-performance car tires have a lot of plasticizer. The glue gets its flexibility from plasticizers, namely additives used to make plastics and rubbers softer and more flexible. When you take a closer look at the glue on the back of the tape, you see that it is very flexible. The main culprit for this issue lies with the flexibility and type of resin used on most construction tape. I have found it occurs more often with acrylic sealers and when the sealer is less than one month old. The problem occurs with all types of tape, even the blue and green low-adhesive brands, and on all types of sealed floors. The above scenario actually takes place more often than most in our industry realize. To make it worse, the owner usually ends up falsely accusing the decorative installer of poorly installing the original work. This left a long ugly narrow strip everywhere they had applied tape. When they pulled the tape up the next day, it took all the sealer and stain with it. The painting contractors or homeowner taped protective paper to the decorative floor two weeks after you completed the job. There’s nothing worse than completing a beautiful stain or stamped concrete project where everyone is happy and you’re paid on time, only to get that dreaded phone call - we have a problem! And I still include the topic in most all of my troubleshooting presentations today. I was one of the first to identify this issue as a problem in our industry more than 10 years ago. Interestingly enough, it’s not widely discussed and even less understood. These range from tape tearing when overlays are applied, to stain bleeding under the tape, to adhesive effectiveness when the tape gets wet.īut by far the one of biggest problems with tape on concrete in the decorative industry is the issue of chemical weld between tape and sealers causing sealer failure when the tape is pulled. Most know that the decorative concrete industry has struggled with tape issues for decades. However, other times they fall short and cause problems. Sometimes these crossover products do the job. Like a lot of ancillary products used by decorative installers, the tapes and adhesives used in the industry typically come from other markets and are nothing more than the best option available at that time. I didn’t have to think very long or hard to put together a list of suggestions and common problems with tape on concrete. Their area of interest focused on what problems applicators had when using their products on typical decorative jobs. They wanted to learn about the types of adhesives and tapes used by decorative concrete applicators as well as the common problems with tape on concrete. ![]() ![]() Photos courtesy of Chris SullivanĪ while back a large manufacturer of tapes and adhesives for the construction industry approached me. An example of blue painter’s tape pulling up and damaging acrylic sealer and acid stain.
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