Should Mastic Be Applied inside Ducts?
K. L| Posted inGeneral Questionson
We hired a contractor to clean our crawl and seal our ductwork. The company used Hardcast 321 mastic. We are concerned becasue they smeared into the floor vents from above and all around the cold air return. I have attached a couple of pictures. Should mastic be applied inside the ducts like this, is it harmful/toxic?
Thank you for any info/advice.
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Replies
The label says it's nontoxic water soluble and suitable for residential use. My company uses mastic on the exterior during new construction.
K.L.,
It seems to me that you are asking two questions:
1. It is OK to install mastic on the interior of a duct system?
2. Is there any reason to believe that dried mastic can release toxic chemicals into the air circulating through a duct system?
The answer to #1 is that, although most installers put the mastic on the outside of the duct, there is always a little bit of mastic that can squeeze through holes and gaps in the duct that is being repaired. Since it is routine for any holes in a duct to be repaired with mastic, many duct systems have at least some dried mastic in contact with the air stream. So that part is fairly normal.
The answer to #2, as far as I know, is that dried mastic is non-toxic. I have never heard any evidence or anecdotes of problems arising from mastic odors or mastic chemicals.