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As temperatures drop and homeowners look to cut the costs of bills, airtightness and draught proofing become front of mind. Uncontrolled air leakage is one of the quickest ways for a building to lose heat and for installers and specifiers, the right tapes and sealing products make the difference between a drafty building and a high performing one. Walther Strong supplies a specialist range designed for new build and refurbishment work: Single Sided Airtight Tape, Double Sided Airtight Tape, and Self-Expanding Foam Tape for continuous seals around windows, doors, and sheathing.
Airtightness reduces uncontrolled ventilation, or air infiltration, that wastes energy, causes uncomfortable cold spots, and can increase the risk of condensation in the fabric of a building. Building regulations and industry guidance put airtightness at the centre of meeting energy performance objectives for new homes and best practice recommends sealing all membrane laps, junctions, and fixings to achieve target air permeability levels.
Airtightness is not just best practice — it is a regulatory requirement in the UK. Part L of the Building Regulations sets energy efficiency standards for new and refurbished buildings and includes air permeability targets that must be met. Uncontrolled air leakage through gaps in walls, around windows, doors, or at membrane and sheathing joints can prevent buildings from achieving these targets.
Key requirements include:
By using Walther Strong Airtight Tapes and Self-Expanding Foam Tape, installers can ensure that new builds or retrofits comply with Part L, reduce heat loss, and minimise the risk of condensation.
Single Sided Airtight Tape is typically used to seal overlaps and joints in breathable or vapour control membranes, such as breather membranes or AVCLs, sealing around penetrations and fixing points and generally creating the continuous air control layer needed across walls and roofs. It is often specified where a membrane needs a robust, pressure sensitive bond to one surface. Use it on membrane laps, to seal flashings, and to seal around service penetrations.
Double Sided Airtight Tape is ideal for bonding membranes to complex details or for securing layers where you need adhesion on both surfaces, for example a membrane bonded to a frame or trim where both faces require contact. It is particularly useful where mechanical fixings are minimal and you want a continuous seal with immediate tack. Choose a tape with weather and UV resistance if portions remain exposed before cladding or roofing is fixed.
Self-Expanding Foam Tape is a different tool in the airtightness toolkit. It is designed to expand into irregular gaps and create a continuous, airtight, and weather resistant seal around window and door perimeters, insulation board edges, or between different building elements. Because it expands to fill voids it is excellent where tolerances or movement exist, delivering a fast, consistent seal without messy wet foams in many applications.
Sheathing, such as OSB, plywood, or other structural boards, forms the primary air control layer in many new builds. Properly sealing sheathing joints and overlaps with single or double sided Airtight Tape ensures a continuous barrier that prevents uncontrolled air leakage. This is particularly important for:
Walther Strong’s tapes are perfectly suited for sheathing applications. Single Sided Airtight Tape provides robust adhesion for lap joints while Double Sided Airtight Tape bonds membranes or trims directly to sheathing for a seamless airtight layer.
Walther Strong’s Airtight Tapes and Self-Expanding Foam Tape are specified by installers who want dependable adhesion, reliable expansion characteristics, and consistent on site performance. Our range is selected to work with common breather membranes, window systems, and sheathing used on modern new builds and retrofit projects.
