Subbed in cheap adhesive on a roofing job and now I'm redoing it all

I used a $30 tube of sealant instead of the $80 stuff my supplier recommended, and now half the flashing on this apartment complex in Nashville is peeling up after two rainstorms. Has anyone else found a budget sealant that actually holds up, or do I just need to bite the bullet?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake_chen2d agoTop Commenter

Wait wait wait, you went with a $30 tube of sealant on a whole apartment complex? lmao. Man that's wild. I mean I get trying to save some cash but flashing on a multi-unit building is basically asking for trouble if you cheap out. That $80 stuff from the supplier probably has some actual flex agents in it that hold up to expansion and movement. Not sure there's a budget option that works for flashing honestly, I've tried a few and they all failed eventually. Gotta bite the bullet on this one.

blairm352d ago

Yeah I've been down that same road myself on a few smaller jobs. Learned the hard way that cheap sealant just doesn't stick around long when the building starts shifting with the seasons. That $80 stuff might sting at checkout but it's got the right polymers to actually flex without cracking. I've had budget tubes turn brittle in like six months and then you're up on a ladder redoing the whole thing anyway. Might as well pay once and be done with it instead of doing it twice. That's just the reality of exterior work.