Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I was putting the window in The Coffin today. On the top and bottom, some of the tape squished out. On the sides, the flange is 3/4" and the tape is 1". All the edges needed to be trimmed.

I didn't want to use a sharp knife, like a utility knife, because that might mar the surface if I cut too deep. So I said to myself, "Self, what kind of knife doesn't cut very well?"

So I went into the kitchen and dug out a plastic table knife, the sort you get for picnics or take-out food.

It worked like a charm! Perfect cuts with no marring of the finish of the camper!

Just thought I'd share my discovery.

-eggsalad

I grabbed the closest thing at hand to clean up the excess tape on my trailer. It was a spade drill bit. The tip worked great! Just a little pressure, not enough to scratch the finish. Cut the tape, and it pealed right away!

I'm thinking that if you trimmed off the excess with a plastic table knife or tip of a spade drill bit, it wasn't butyl tape ... probably more like RV Putty Tape. The Butyl Tape I'm familiar with takes a razor knife to trim ...

I hope that doesn't sound like I'm splitting hairs or something, but there's a significant difference between the two, and I would hate to see or hear of someone purchasing butyl tape when what they need is RV Putty Tape. Butyl does NOT squeeze down easily like the putty tape does, and while it might be O.K. for sealing heavy extruded moldings like window frames, it's a real pain (and not at all recommended) for roof vents and traditional roof edge molding (I don't even like it for RV Roof Edge Molding) ...

Unless they've reformulated butyl in the last couple of years ...

CHEERS!

Ignore this post

EggSalad, I'm not a moderator; however, you can change the title yourself.

You simply edit the first entry you made; change the subject line, and submit.

From what I've been told, RV putty tape is gray and Butyl tape is black; but, I could be wrong.
When I went into RV places, asking for Butyl tape, they didn't even know what I was talking about.
When you tell them what you want to use it for, they say, "Oh, you mean RV putty tape." and they direct you to the gray stuff.
Vent installation kits use the gray stuff, too.

Li'l Bear is the only place I found nearby that sells Butyl tape. When I replaced my broken front window, I used some of that and it does seem to squeeze out less. It works well.

RV putty tape has a wrinkled finish and the paper looks like crepe paper
There is a blended tape part butyl part putty, again wrinkled finish
Butyl for RVs is either black or gray, has a smooth finish and the paper is glossy on the tape side, it sticks like there is no tomorrow and is hard to trim unless a knife is used.
Butyl is preferred for anything that touches a rubber membrane roof, as putty is petroleum based and over time will attack the rubber membrane
For trimming putty a plastic scraper blade is great and in a pinch a knitting needle works wonders

S. Heisley wrote:... Li'l Bear is the only place I found nearby that sells Butyl tape. When I replaced my broken front window, I used some of that and it does seem to squeeze out less. It works well.

Sorry, Sharon ...

... I do NOT sell Butyl Tape. The black stuff I sold you is RV Putty Tape ... it comes in grey, black, and off-white ... the grey is stickier and squeezes out just a little better than the black, but I prefer the black (they both seal just as well) ... stay away from the off-white, as it dries out and chalks up and is basically worthless, IMHO (unless it's been reformulated in the last few years).

As always ...

CHEERS!