Fiberglass tape on a duct joint looked like pure hack work until the pressure test said otherwise
Last month my helper slapped fiberglass mesh tape over a pinhole on a supply duct at a basement reno in Lethbridge and I flat out told him to rip it off, that it would never hold air. He bet me 50 bucks and we taped the joint, sealed it with mastic, and let it cure overnight. Next morning we ran a pressure test and the needle sat there like nothing was wrong, no leak at all. Turns out the tape was just a backer and the mastic was doing the real work, and I had been cutting out whole sections of duct on small holes for no good reason. I paid him the 50 and bought coffee, but the embarrassing part is I have been doing this for 14 years and never once tried it. Now I am wondering what else I call hack work just because my old boss said so. Any of you got a trick like that from a young guy that actually works?