Performing & Failing - SWRInstitute

Sika 2c placed Jan. ’99
Feb. ’04 – Feb. ‘08

This product crazes deeply but the chalking created seems to insulate the
underlying rubber making the 4-year difference slight.

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Sika 2c placed March ’02
Feb. ’04 – Feb. ‘08

Color changes in urethanes are either from dirt pickup, heavy crazing, reversion, or
organic growth.

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Vulkem 116 placed July ’02
July ’02 – Feb. ‘08

This product became very hard.

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Sonneborn 150 2-part placed July ’98
March ’00 –Feb. ‘08

An STPU that picks up a lot of dirt. But the rubber is quite good.

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The Wall

Now we use 4” x 6” metal panels clipped into a channel with a piano hinge. This
makes it easier to log data on the back of panels and move them for photographs
and other measurements.
I highly recommend contractors use this simple passive technique to compare
weathering of sealants in your climate.

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•Heat & UV resistance What Works

•Painted urethanes

• Silicone
• Preformed seals

Some of the conclusions of the study in which we pulled over 220 samples from
installations of 20 years old were:
• Heat & UV light resistance is key to sealant performance
• Urethanes showed the shortest durability unless painted.
• Silicones showed no physical characteristic changes after 20+ years other than
some picked up dirt.
• Additionally, preformed silicone seals work well.

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What Doesn’t Work

• Poor installations
• Poor products
• Poor designs

Take away good installations, good products and/or proper designs and failure is
almost assured.

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Sloping Wall Issues

Architects these days like sloping walls.
Windows in these buildings designed to shed water from weeps and flashing often
leak.
When does a wall become a roof?

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Joint size

Compatibility

The architect specified a minimum ¼” joint between frame and wall.
The panel builder had a ¼” tolerance.
Flexible flashing installer smeared an incompatible primer onto the bond line.
The pan flashing effectively eliminated the ¼” joint space.
Then, the walls were built sloped backward.
This new building is being sealed with a preformed silicone strip.

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Productivity

• Site-work with fiber fillers
• Safe Quality/Production incentives
• Team building
• Buckets, sausages or tubes
• Productivity training
• Production measurement
• Sealant removal techniques on large

site-work

Very little has changed to increase the rate of the application of sealants.
With labor being the most significant cost of sealed joints with the largest variability,
this subject should be the most important discussion for the SWR Institute.
It is not. Probably because it is difficult and anyone who thinks he has a good trick
wants to keep the advantage to himself.
I want to open this discussion in hopes it might breed further openness on the
subject.

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Get Involved

If you are interested in details of any of
these studies, contact me.
[email protected]

If you want more information on how you can get involved with ASTM or do your
own “Wal”l, I will share details.

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Elastomeric Wall Coatings

As an aside, we have initiated tests of elastomeric wall coating and their crack
bridging ability.
I hope to present the results to SWR Institute in the future.

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Performing & Failing
Sealants

Thank You SWRI

Patrick Gorman

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