seam sealing ???

i recently bought a new tent and the seams are all taped it is a sierra designs tent but the papers that came with it say that i should seal the seams and i have read conflecting info on the web can anyone clear this up for me

seam seal it.

Next time it pours and your in the tent, no worries.

I'm guessing that when you say 'papers' you mean instructions from the manufacturer.

You can either use a commercial seam sealer or make one up yourself.

GE Silicone II and odorless paint thinner. 50/50

Use a small can (like a tuna can), fill it 1/4 full of thinner and then fill to 1/2 mark with silicone. Stir for about 10 minutes (it will 'mix'). Use a cheap 1" brush with 1/2 the bristles cut off. Start in a corner and work away from the edges. Leave the top (if you are doing the top) until last to keep the stuff out of your hair. Toss in a few large empty boxes to keep the tent sides from sticking. It should 'cure' in about 2 hours.

You might have a spare clean can handy incase you run out mixture or pot life - about an hour.

Before usung a home-made sealer that uses paint thinner, mineral spirits (most paint thinners), or other solvents, be sure to test it on a non-critical part of the tent. The tent material (nylon or polyester) and/or coating (polyethylene) can be damaged by some solvents, including the ones in silicon sealers. The products made for seam sealing (SeamSeal is only one) have generally been tested for compatability, and the one or ones listed by the tent manufacturer have always been (if the recommended one causes damage, you have recourse, where you don't if your homemade one causes problems).

But to answer the OP, it is a good practice to seamseal even tents that are taped. One tent I got from one of the highest-rated tentmakers had the label sewn on *without* either tape or seamseal in one production run of the tent. I received a notice about this from the manufacturer. In the end, it turned out that my particular tent was not from the problem batch (and sorry, ministercreek, it was a production run sewn in the US that was done wrong. My particular tent and most other runs were sewn in China).

Use Seam Grip and buy the bottle with the catalyst. Mix it in small batches and apply with an acid brush - those metal brushes with short synthetic fibers. Use it to bind any visible threads down as you go down the seam. Seam grip can make tent seams stronger as well as completely waterproof. If you dont use the catalyst the glue might dry and set in 24s or maybe not and it will smell really bad and you won't have anyplace where you can put it that long where it won't get junk in the wet glue and you'll probably glue the screen shut and glue the sides of the tent together (been there done that). Use the catalyst and the stuff sets up in an hour or less and it full hardens so it isn't so sticky and doesn't stick to other seam sealed places.

Or use a thin product like Seam Seal that sort of wicks into needle holes and fills them and dries, but it looks awful after a year and needs to be replaced occasionally. It does dry fast and is common method because its easier than seam grip. I used seamgrip on my Bibler and seam seal on my Eureka tent. The one took days to complete, the other half an hour.
Jim S

Hi. When seam sealing, do you seal from the inside (or bottom in the case of the rain fly) or the outside of the tent? Do you set up the tent in the back yard (in the shade) on a day with no rain in the forecast, or apply it with the tent not set up, justed layed out flat somewhere dry? Just some newbie questions. Thanks

WV said:
"When seam sealing, do you seal from the inside (or bottom in the case of the rain fly) or the outside of the tent? Do you set up the tent in the back yard (in the shade) on a day with no rain in the forecast, or apply it with the tent not set up, justed layed out flat somewhere dry?"

Simple answer - Yes.

Well, actually, it depends on whether the threads are accessible. You want the seam sealer to soak into the stitching. Preferably (according to the directions on SeamSeal and SeamGrip), you do it from the inside. But a lot of the better tents have taped seams. So you have to get at the stitching from the outside of the tent. You can reinforce the tape by applying sealer along the sides of the tape (which means the inside)

Location - most important thing is PLENTY of ventilation. The solvent is poisonous to inhale. But you should not do the application with the tent in direct sunlight. The UV will speed the deterioration of the tent material (nylon more than most materials). You will have the tent in the sun plenty during your trips anyway. So don't add to the exposure.

I usually set the tent up in the garage (oooops, forgot, everyone's garage is full of storage). I keep the garage doors open and a fan going to get the full ventilation. I get at the fly's stitching by laying it over the tent inside out. It is a lot easier to get the sealer onto the seams if the tent is pitched properly than if it is just laid out. By the way, since you have a fly (double wall tents), you only need to seal the floor seams (including the part that comes part-way up the walls). The upper mesh and light nylon part isn't waterproof anyway. Leave the tent set up for at least a day, until the sealer is thoroughly dry.

All this is in the directions on the sealer bottles.

Thanks Bill. I think I can make room in my garage for a few days to get this done (it needs cleaned out anyway). Won't have time to get this done in time for my trout fishing trip this weekend (and rain is in the forecast). But I will be car camping, so no worries. Hope my newbie questions don't seem too dumb.

Also, I have never had to seam seal any of my other tents in the past, and never had a problem with leaking (although all of my previous tents were large car camping tents, not made out of light weight material). Is this necessary for all backpacking tents?

Seam sealing may or may not be "necessary" with a given tent. However, if you have a good or better quality backpacking tent, it is just good practice and provides longer life for the tent. The sealing prolongs the life of the stitching, for one thing. Just part of maintaining that investment, like making sure you set up your tent after every trip to air out and dry, preventing mildew that can set in very rapidly if you store it wrapped up and damp (mildew also delaminates the flash coating that is used to waterproof the tent fly and floor). And of course, turn the tent inside out to get rid of all the dirt you dragged in unknowingly - also prolongs the life of the coated waterproof floor.

Taped tents don't "need" seam sealing, but they last longer if you do it and stay leakproof longer.

if i decide to seal the tent over all the taped seams shuld i cover the tape in seam seal or just go down the edges of the tape and should i go over the seams on the outside of the tent to o and do you have any tips for getting around the little valcro straps to attach the fly to the tent poles on sierra designs tents

You've made a believer out of me. I will seal the seams as soon as I get a chance. Thanks

Seal the edges of the tape plus (more important) soak it into the stitching from the opposite side. No gain in covering the whole width of the tape. The sealer helps hold the tape in place longer, and putting it on the center of the tape does no good.

The velcro on the fly to hold it to the poles in some Sierra Designs tents, the Bibler (now Black Diamond) internal frame tents, and others can be dealt with by soaking the stitching from the outside. The idea here and in seam sealing generally ("waterproof" jackets, too!!!) is that the needle holes for sewing the tent or garment together (or sttaching labels) are potential leak points. So the sealer plugs the holes.

In the old style canvas tents (typically cotton), the fibers would absorb the water and expand, thus providing the seal against leakage. "Waterproofing" compounds painted on help this. Modern synthetics, like nylon, do not absorb the water or expand. So you need polyurethane or other coatings and seam sealers.