Window glazing tape, also known as Foam Adhesive Backbedding Tape, is a specialized, high-performance product used to seal PVC, wood, and other commonly used extruded window frames. These products are used in a variety of insulated or tempered glass applications to create a perfectly sealed adhesion for maximum air and water tightness. This helps prevent water, dust, insects, and other environmental debris from entering the critical area where the glass has been married together with the window structure. Adhesive Applications’ window glazing tapes allow for the ability to provide highly engineered cost-effective solutions.
What is Window Glazing Tape?
Window glazing tape is made of a specialized PE foam material with an acrylic or rubber adhesive on one side and a release liner on the other. This type of foam offers superior compression resistance compared to other foam materials due to its low density and closed-cell structure. The release liner allows easy application during the window or door fabrication process with zero mess or waste! In many cases, this type of tape is used as a sealant to replace traditional putty or silicone. It is highly durable, providing a reliable and strong bond between the glass and framing materials. Let’s look at how strong glazing tape really is and what makes it so effective. Adhesive Applications glazing tape is a completely vertically integrated product through our fully automated and state-of-the-art equipment. We are able to source our Foam from our sister company MHXco which reduces supply chain delays and helps control costs.
Testing the Strength of Glazing Tapes
When testing the strength of a particular type of window glazing tape, it’s important to consider both its adhesive capability as well as its tensile strength (the amount of force required to pull it apart). Most manufacturers will conduct these tests on their own products in order to determine their performance capabilities before offering them for sale. If you want an accurate assessment of your chosen product’s strength and durability, Adhesive Applications has the lab testing capabilities to do so. We use specialized equipment like tensile testers or strain gauges. These tools can measure how much force is required to break the bond between the two surfaces being held together by the tape.
Our on-site lab team can test the following parameters to meet various industry requirements:
- Adhesion – 180°, 90°, and heated
- Shear
- Tack
- SAFT
- Tensile
- Conductivity
- Liner Analysis
- Material Thickness
- Solvent Retain
- Environmental Cycling
- And many more!
Ease of Installation
Adhesive Applications window glazing tape has many benefits over traditional older methods of sealing windows, such as silicone sealant or putty, which requires expensive equipment, can be messy, and results in an excessive amount of wasted material. Window glazing tape is easy to install since it comes with a pre-applied adhesive on one side and a release liner on the other side. Adhesive Application glazing tape can be applied in a few ways. Some high-volume applications can be applied using an automated machine. However, the most common application is by hand simply using a flat table and pulling the tape off a round cylinder along the window or door sash with the adhesive side attached to the window glazing leg. Once the entire glazing surface has been covered by the tape, the release liner is peeled back. A small application of silicone should be applied to the four corners of the window frame, and then the glass is placed into the opening on top of the glazing tape with the adhesive top portion. The fabricator applies the PVC glazing bead around the opening.
Conclusion
Glazing tapes come in various strengths and levels of durability depending on their intended application. Regardless of which type you select; they all offer superior adhesion along with excellent tensile strength which allows them to remain secure even after long periods of exposure to extreme weather conditions or heavy loads.
Adhesive Applications’ Glazing Tape is FGIA/AAMA Approved and will hit all Energy Star Criteria!