Aluminium tape brands you'd recommend?

[Mr Gus]

Finding my stock of generic aluminium tape running low, any personal recommendations from members (or are they all of a like)?

Plenty of brands on ebay touting for business, or should I simply pay a bit more at the builders merchant? ..which also appears generic
(got a load of 100mm offcuts locally + 100mm cut down to 50mm, so more than edges to be sealed)

Cheers folks.

[nowty]

I've bought twice from ebay over the years (not for about 5 years though) and bought the cheapest and both were as good as any premium brand.

[AE-NMidlands]

I got on all right with this
https://www.toolstation.com/aluminium-foil-tape/p97723
and I thought it was cheap enough. (especially on offer)
It was fine for sealing vapour-barrier foil sheet, i.e. used flat, but when I tried to use it in short lengths to wrap the foam insulation around the bend coming out of a solar tube manifold it did tear quite easily.
Don't remove the backing tape until you are ready to press it into place or it will curl up and stick to itself. Once the glue has contacted something it doesn't let go!
I found the best way was to peel a small bit off to get it started, then hold the tape in place while I pulled the paper out from behind, if you see what I mean.

[Mr Gus]

Thanks guys.

I became a dab hand with it "proper" back in 2015 when I used nothing but accumulated scraps of offcuts to make a jigsaw (well it has to be removed for maintenance right) !? for insulating to the "reasonable" maximum of our Hot water tank, adjacent walls, some ceiling (well, below the cold water tank above it) & 2x top pieces, which I have recently loosened off due to the cut out kicking in a few times despite a cut out for it.

Needless to say that having 150mm on the accessible sides & loose infill stuffed where I couldn't the result heat loss massively reduced, took me forever to sort through & make minimal cuts but a fun couple of afternoons.

I wish though I'd sealed all the edges of the stuff I put in our colditz loft tunnel years before though (that's never coming out)

As far as thin stuff (in an emergency) the 151 brand has also proven ok for less stress prone joints.

Will order an assortment & see, all will be used.

[Mr Gus]

Ended up with "diall" 75mms & Toolstation unmarked but supposed to be "ultra" ..doubtless good enough for closing ends etc.
All this extra insulation makes me want to break down the difficult p/board we'll that is stopping me from getting good insulation on all 4 sides, too many other jobs on though.

Opinions please on draining down my cold water tank & ramming celotex around that whilst I'm changing the ballcock out? ..started dripping yesterday.
(Its directory above the HW tank, same room, same door, which is why it was never going to freeze as he tank slips it residual heat which is then partially lost elsewhere.

[Oliver90owner]

I found the best way was to peel a small bit off to get it started, then hold the tape in place while I pulled the paper out from behind, if you see what I mean.

Isn’t that the way everybody does it? Same principle as when using two foot wide rolls of ‘Fablon’ in decades past?

[AE-NMidlands]

Someone had posted a 1-star review saying it was impossible to use because it curled up and stuck to itself, so obviously not. I confirmed that on the first bit too, a short horizontal length where the other way looked as though it might be more difficult!
A

[Mr Gus]

Nah, there's always the incompetent DIY (er) review that needs spoon feeding, sadly they taint proper reviews, Speaking as a bad DIY'er myself.
The worst i've had over the years is losing the edge from time to time (picked nails make finding it harder for 5 minutes)

I bet if these places sold sewing needles someone would leave a 1 star review based on not being able to thread it, & another for it being too sharp a point ...y'know?

It's a 2 layer & easy to apply, don't think I've ever lost a significant amount due to keeping it close to the surface i'm working on (logic eh) to adhere & smooth, the same process of application to all tapes of its type, it takes time to seal a piece on all sides but definitely worth the effort, for my Hot water tank it has to be taken apart several times per year for tap maintainence etc, lines drawn in marker so that even a fool could rebuild it.
(all scraps few actual cuts, just time taken to place around 100 offcuts of all sizes to get the best out of around 20 pieces)

I'm looking at a deal on some 200 metre rolls of 100mm currently (local to me) just waiting to hear about the specs, that will be useful & cost effective.