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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BACKER ROD

August 19, 2014

At one point in the construction of a building, a backer rod might be required. It is a foam that has a cylindrical shape that is used to fill gaps and cracks that exist between other building materials. There are numerous applications in which the rod is required including flooring, tiling, window paneling and many others. In all these applications, it has three main uses. It is used to control the sealant depth, offer backing for the sealant that is applied and ensure that triple bonding does not occur. In controlling the sealant depth, the backer rod ensures that the depth that is to be filled is half the depth of the gap. The rod possesses a bond breaking property that ensures it does not bond with the sealant. When you use the rod, you can be assured that the sealant will only bond with the building material.

The installation of the backer rod is relatively simple and does not require any special skills. The gas has to be cleaned and dried first before the application. This is because the contaminant present might alter the operation of the sealant. When the gap has been cleaned, you have to determine the best size and type of rod for that specific application. If you want insulation properties, you should consider using closed cell rods. This also applies to when you need a seal that is airtight. The open cell rods are normally used for indoor applications to fill various sizes of gaps. The choice off rod diameter will depend on the width of the crack that you want to fill. This diameter should be slightly larger than the width of the crack. Always ensure that you purchase the backer rod from a reliable source. This will remove the risks of purchasing low quality rods.