The Importance of Building Sealant

Building sealant is an important part of a building’s exterior, especially for protecting against water ingress, heat, humidity, UV rays and other environmental strains. It also helps keep the interior of a structure comfortable.

There are several types of sealants, including water-based and polyurethane. Selecting the right type is based on your needs and budget.

Waterproofing

Waterproofing is a process that protects structures from water in any form, whether it is liquid, solid (ice) or gas (humidity). A waterproofing system can help ensure the structural integrity of a building and reduce the risk of damage.

A properly waterproofed building is a safe, durable, and healthy place to live. It also adds value to a property and makes it more appealing for sale.

The first benefit of waterproofing is that it helps prevent unwanted moisture from leaking into your walls and causing mold and mildew to grow, which can be harmful for your health. Additionally, it reduces the amount of time spent cleaning up after a heavy rainstorm or flood.

Another benefit is that it prevents rust and wood decay. This means that your home will look and feel newer longer, which increases its value in the long run.

Waterproofing can also protect the foundation of your building, preventing cracks and settling issues from developing. This is especially important if your home is on an uneven or sloped lot.

A professional waterproofing company can address a wide range of foundation and drainage issues. They can use drain tile, sump pumps, and other equipment to channel excess water away from your home.

They can also install a water-proofing membrane to protect the exterior of your building. This can help prevent water from seeping into your basement and causing significant damage.

These professionals can also inspect your building to make sure that the membrane is working properly and no leaks are forming. This is a vital step to making sure that the waterproofing job is successful, and it can save you money in the long run.

Waterproofing is a complex task and requires specialized training and skills to complete. This is why it’s important to choose a professional who has extensive experience and a reputation for doing the job correctly. Ask about their certifications and how long they’ve been in business to ensure that you’re getting the best service.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is a cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other pollutants while saving on utility costs. In addition, it improves the quality of life and health in buildings and yields a variety of other benefits.

Air sealing is a great start to building energy efficiency. Sealing leaks around windows, doorways, and other openings reduces the amount of energy it takes to heat or cool your home. This saves money, protects your family’s health, and keeps your home drier in the winter and warmer in the summer.

In addition, it can help prevent mold and mildew growth. Fortunately, air sealing does not require much effort and can be performed by anyone.

Insulation is another important part of a successful energy-efficiency upgrade. Increasing the thickness of a building’s insulation is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve energy savings and comfort.

However, if you want to ensure the best possible results, it’s a good idea to use high-quality materials that are environmentally responsible. These materials are often certified through Green Seal, an independent program that helps people find products that meet a set of environmental leadership standards.

If you’re a commercial or multifamily owner, Building Sealant it’s even more important to use high-quality sealants and adhesives for the most effective and environmentally friendly results. This is especially true for sealing ductwork, which can be a significant source of air pollution and radon gas migration in buildings.

Adhesives and sealants are also a key factor in promoting material efficiency. They can encourage the reduction of material used during construction, the extension of building life through maintenance and repair, and the reuse of building materials to minimize waste.

In addition, they can help promote the reuse and recycling of materials to limit the embodied carbon that’s released into the environment each time a product is produced. Ultimately, the more materials are used, the more we use energy to transport and dispose of them.

Durability

Durability is the ability of a sealant to preserve its performance to a specific substrate(s) over the design life of the sealant. This includes resistance to environmental strains such as ultra-violet radiation, moisture, temperature, cyclic joint movement, movement during curing, and biodegradation.

The main physical properties that determine the durability of a sealant are adhesive strength, cohesive strength, recovery ability after deformation, modulus, and weathering. There are many other properties that should be considered in designing a sealant for a given application.

Adhesion: Unless the sealant has adequate adhesion to the various substrates, it will not have the capacity to bond securely and continuously. This is especially true in moving joints where an early loss of adhesion can significantly reduce the performance of a sealant. In most cases, a primer may be recommended to promote proper adhesion.

Cohesion: Unless the sealant has sufficient cohesive strength to hold itself together, it will not be able to provide the necessary sealing capacity of a joint. This is especially true in moving joints where a joint will move repeatedly over time due to the interaction of heat, water, humidity and air pressure.

Test Methods:

Some of the most common tests used in determining a sealant’s durability are ASTM C719 and ASTM C734. These standards involve constant stretching and compressing a joint over several weeks, and then seeing how well the sealant recovers from the stress.

ASTM C719 – 2005 Standard Test Method for Adhesion and Cohesion of Elastomeric Joint Sealants Under Cyclic Movement (Hockman Cycle). This test requires the sealant to be constantly stretched and compressed in a variety of conditions over several weeks.

The sealant is then subjected to repeated cycles of exposure to UV light and condensation for more than 30 days. After this, the sealant is tested again to see how well it recovers from the stress. This test is very rigorous and provides a good basis for determining how durable a sealant is under stress.

Maintenance

Keeping your facilities and equipment in good working condition is an important part of any business. While you Building Sealant may not be able to predict when and how an asset will break down, maintenance can help you avoid expensive repairs.

Aside from the monetary savings, maintenance can also help prevent accidents and protect your employees’ health. Preventive maintenance can include tasks such as changing water filters and cleaning essential equipment, while emergency maintenance entails a last-minute response to an unexpected breakdown.

According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, maintenance is “to keep in an existing state, preserve from failure.” It means that you take action to ensure the continued functioning of your equipment and facilities.

It is often said that there are four major types of maintenance strategies: proactive, reactive, emergency, and predictive. Each has its advantages and drawbacks, so it’s important to choose the best one for your needs.

Proactive maintenance is the most cost-effective strategy, but it can be challenging to implement. It involves implementing routine inspections and analyzing data to identify issues before they become serious problems.

The key to proactive maintenance is to create a schedule that works for your business and its equipment. Having a schedule in place will ensure that maintenance is always performed on time and at the right frequency.

For example, if you have an HVAC unit that has been running at full capacity for years, it may be a good idea to replace it with a more efficient model. In addition, if your company has a large number of vehicles, you might want to check the tires regularly and clean the engine to reduce fuel consumption.

You can also set up a system where you notify a technician if an asset needs maintenance, and then they will be responsible for handling the repair. This will reduce downtime and minimize your risks of business closures due to a failed asset.

You can also choose to use predictive maintenance, where the system will read the equipment’s signals and alert you when it is tipped off to an issue. This can be more labor intensive, but it will save money in the long run by avoiding costly repairs.