Spring is in the air!  And not a moment too soon, as so many of us have had enough of the winter blues.  Especially in the Northern parts of the country.  The prolonged dark, dreary and cold days.  For many of us, we look forward to a spring break vacation, doing some gardening or just getting outside for some exercise after being penned up for the long winter.

But for so many out there, the nicer weather is more than just recreation and a breath of fresh air, but a necessity to earn a living.  Many types of industries and businesses close or scale back their services due to the winter months.  Tourism, landscaping, and building and construction are a few examples.  For this blog, we will be focusing on Build and Construction. 

A shortened working calendar year, or season, means fewer projects, less revenue, and less income for so many workers.  For some time now there has been a desire by contractors and construction companies to keep working through the winter months and extend the season as long as possible.  And with the explosion in commercial and residential demand to satisfy the growing population and economy, working later and starting earlier in the year is becoming more and more of a necessity as the industry tries to keep up with demand.  Thus, manufactures of building materials have been challenged by meeting these challenges. 

This is especially true with regards to adhesive and sealants used in building and construction.  The low temperature and damp environments of winter and early spring cause issues with these products properly flowing and forming bond and curing.  Mactac has met this challenge however with our newest pressure-sensitive adhesive tape line MacBond Arctic.

MacBond Arctic line of tapes and adhesive is specifically formulated to be applied at extremely low temperatures.  While the recommended application temperature for most tapes is 45°F or above, MacBond Arctic can be applied down to -20F with no issue.  Even at these low temperatures, Arctic will have plenty of tacks to adhere to all types of surfaces such as house wraps, insulation board & foam, MDO board, aluminum, vinyl, and many more.  No need to bring the tape inside at the end of the workday to get warm, leave it in the vehicle or outside doesn’t matter.  Early morning frost, dew or cold winter rain?  No worries Macbond Arctic can even adhere to cold wet surfaces. 

As you can see (or in our testing if we don’t link to video) we conditioned both the tape and the surface to be bonded to in a freezer at -13°F and pulled them out.  Immediately frost and condensation begin to appear.  MacBond arctic was applied directly to the surface and instantly formed an aggressive permanent bond with no dwell time.  We then took it one step further and took the material our]t of the freezer and sprayed water onto the surface and laminated the tape directly over the water droplets.  Again, Arctic is capable of forming an instant permanent bond with no dwell time. 

MacBond Arctic is available in a variety of constructions ranging for unsupported transfer tapes, heavy deposition GS like transfer tapes (5-35 mils), double and single coated tapes, or applied to custom materials.  Applications include roofing underlayment, self-adhering roofing membranes, flashing tape, glazing tapes, seaming tapes, temporary cladding & screening and so much more.  Have a demanding application or custom product construction in mind?  Reach out to Mactac and speak with one of the application specialists about MacBond Arctic.

Learn more about MacBond Arctic and request a sample by clicking here.