Rermoving Construction Adhesive ?

[Squidd]

Finally warmed up around here (at least enough to go out and work on the boat).

Been stripping out the inside, any loose boards, doors, drawers, locker covers, etc that I can take in the shop to work on when it gets cold again, then I plan on scrubbing and cleaning the remaining interior wood work (as weather permits)

Pulled the curtains off the windows (ports?) and found a rope trim "glued" around the openings.. Over the years the rope has hardened, shrunk and is falling off...I pulled the rest of it off, but now am left with "Liquid Nails" construction adhesive on the fiberglass/port edge...

Probably a moot question, but is there anyway to remove the hardened adhesive without damaging port/glass...?

Otherwise I'll probably grind it out/smooth it out the best I can with a Dremel tool and either paint the edge or reapply new rope trim with appropriate adhesive to cover damage...

Open to suggestions...

[hellosailor]

Squidd, if it is Liquid Nails you might trying contacting them about solvents. There's a "3M 5200 remover" on the market that is supposed to de-bond all sorts of impossible adhesives, might attack the portlight bedding but if the glazing really is GLASS no solvent will bother it.

Otherwise, try a heat gun and then various solvents, acetone, xylene, whatever is in the paint store and says "Caution not for use in unventilated spaces, may cause..." until you find a favorite. Marinas and auto body shops usually sell good "de-bonders" as well.

Scraping, polishing it down and repainting, just might wind up being the way you have to go. I suspect whatever takes down the adhesive will also take down the interior paint.

[Squidd]

I'm 90% certain it's Liquid Nails, I found a caulk gun with a hardened tube in one of the lockers..

That and the PO used the stuff to glue all sorts of crap to the walls in the saloon for hangers clips etc...

[Squidd]

Did a Google search (duhh) and found mineral oil to soften, scrape and mineral spirits to clean up might work...otherwise heat gun to 140* to soften , scrape and MS to clean up..

Either should be safe on the fiberglass cabin/plastic port trim (I'm hopeing)

Will try both methods and report results...

[Squidd]

Mineral Oil softening didn't work.. or maybe I just didn't wait long enough, but the heat gun did the trick..!!

Got material over 140* (per google search) and softened right up, no damage to plastic trim on port and scraper was able to take out Liquid Nails, clear silicone, some of the bedding and some other adhesive the PO had spread around ports (and several other places)...

Minimal damage from scraper (much less than I was anticipating from Dremel) final clean up with mineral spirits..

Now I'll be able to get port trim off so I can pull and rebed and hopefully eliminate some of the leakage...

[hellosailor]

Good trick taking out the silicone, I find sometimes it leaves behind a stain or residue that just refuses to scrape or clean off.

[Squidd]

Yeah, there is still a residue/staining from the adhesive/sealants... but at least I got the majority removed...

I was afraid with the build up the PO laid in there I wouldn't be able to get the window trim off in one piece, if at all...

[Ocarina II]

If you are able to scrape that adhesive off you might have to paint that whole area.But don't worry, new paints like Interlux 2 part 'Perfection' will give great results. Just don't go gluing on more tacky ropework!

[Minnewaska]

Originally Posted by Ocarina II

......Just don't go gluing on more tacky ropework!

+1

Nice trick with heat gun. I would paint now.