Seam tape blowing up on me in this humidity

Been fighting seam tape adhesion all week down here in Tampa. 90% humidity and the glue just won't grab right. Seen two other crews this month redo whole rooms because the seams popped after 24 hours. I pre-seam test every roll now on a scrap piece. Gotta check before you lay it all out. Anyone else dealing with this sticky mess in the south?

4 comments

4 Comments

paul_taylor2110d ago

@miller.rowan I tried the heat gun trick after reading your post and it fixed my seam issues in this swampy air.

miller.rowan15d ago

The other day I was reading some thread on another forum where a guy was swearing by using a heat gun to kind of flash-dry the seam tape after you lay it down, even in high humidity. He said it helps the glue bite before the moisture gets a chance to play games with it. I tried that on a job last Wednesday and it actually worked pretty well, though you gotta be careful not to cook the backing. I also saw somewhere that some guys will wipe down the joint with a dry cloth first to get any surface moisture off before they even put the tape down, which seems like common sense but I always forget to do it. This weather down here is brutal though, I just had a roll of the good stuff start peeling at the edges an hour after I put it on a ceiling last week.

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the_harper15d ago

My buddy runs a bakery and he's got the same problem with their royal icing during summer weddings, apparently the humidity just kills the bond unless you hit it with a warm fan for like 30 seconds. It's funny how that little trick of chasing out moisture with a quick heat blast shows up everywhere, from drywall tape to cookie decorating to even putting stickers on painted walls (learned that one the hard way). I think we just assume surfaces are dry when they feel dry to the touch, but that thin invisible layer of water is always there messing stuff up.

miles_burns10d ago

Got the same tip from an old painter years ago and it saved me on a garage ceiling job last August. I tried the heat gun trick but found a hair dryer on low works just as good without risking burning the paper. Also started wiping the joint compound dust off with a dry microfiber cloth before taping, that made a bigger difference than I expected. The humidity down here makes you feel like you're fighting a losing battle sometimes but those little steps really add up.