How can I dissolve cured polyurethane foam?
John
Hello,
I recently used some expanding foam insulation (Mono-Foam brand) in an
attempt to fill in a cavity between some laminated wood flooring
material and the underlying concrete sub-floor. Unfortunately, I used
too much foam. This resulted in a noticable bulge where the cavity
once was.
I was hoping that someone here may be able to tell me if there is any
way to dissolve the foam once it has been cured. The ideal chemical
would break down the PU foam without damaging the wood flooring.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
John Zivkovic
jonn@*spamoff*oanet.com
Gina Tomasino and Chris Kierans
I am sorry to say it (maybe I am wrong), but if you want to get rid of
the bulge your best bet would be to remove the floor, remove the excess
foam with a hand grinder or similar tool and replace the floor.
There are some very strong "solvents" that will soften the foam, but it
sounds to me as though you have quite a bit of it between the wood
flooring and the concrete sub-floor and these solvents probably wouldn't
do you much good. E.g. even if you had something that worked, you'd
have to get rid of the solvent afterwards ;-)
In plants and facilities where urethane foam is processed or
manufactured they soak machinery components in some pretty nasty
compounds such as DMF (dimethyl formamide?) or NMP (n-methyl
pyrrolidone) (90% sure I got the chemical names right). NMP is sold
industrially by BASF and maybe other chemical companies. Processors
(i.e. companies who use PU chemistry say for insulating, seating, etc.)
might soak machinery components that are gummed up with foam to clean
them. But as I said, these chemicals are pretty nasty, all they do is
soften the foam leaving a mass of gummy residual "gunk" and would not be
used to dissolve away a large quantity of foam. Also I would think it
extremely unlikely that these chemicals are available as a consumer
item.
If all you want to do is remove small specks or blobs that may be
sticking to the floor, you might try Polystrip or some commercial paint
removers, but I am not promising anything. You might want to call the
people at Mono - who knows do they have an 800 number or a web site :-)
- and ask their advice.
One other thing, shooting urethane chemicals "blindly" into a cavity may
be asking for trouble in another way: for instance if there was any
water in the gap, e.g. if the concrete was excessively damp, the foam
would likely be of very poor quality, would expand too much, and would
not adhere to the substrate (concrete).
In my opinion, any chemical solvent, even if you could get your hands on
a sample, is asking for more trouble, and you'd be better off removing
the bulging foam physically.
Regards,
Chris Kierans
A.G. (Tony) Warren
ole...@cc.umanitoba.ca
The way that we dissolve PU elastomer in our laboratory is using
THF(tetrahydrafuran). This is only one of the common solvents that we
found that was able to dissolve it. Another that works quite well is
1,1,1,3,3,3 hexafluoro isopropanol. Both of these solvents would pobably
hurt your flooring though.
Richard Oleschuk
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB
Canada
Andrew Warden and Julianne Halley
John wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I recently used some expanding foam insulation (Mono-Foam brand) in an
> attempt to fill in a cavity between some laminated wood flooring
> material and the underlying concrete sub-floor. Unfortunately, I used
> too much foam. This resulted in a noticable bulge where the cavity
> once was.
>
> I was hoping that someone here may be able to tell me if there is any
> way to dissolve the foam once it has been cured. The ideal chemical
> would break down the PU foam without damaging the wood flooring.
John,
I would suggest (If you can get it) MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone). Unfortunately, this will
also dissolve the polymer in your floor polish/wood coating. This is also a hazardous
material (in Australia anyway) and you would be well advised to wear protective gloves
(NOT latex ones) while you use this stuff. Hope this helps.
Regards,
The Judge
--
*** The greatest man is he who can achieve the greatest thing and not feel the need to
breathe a word about it. *** The Judge
TJKugel
In article <33b17719...@news.oanet.com>, jonn@*spamoff*.oanet.com
(John) writes:
>I was hoping that someone here may be able to tell me if there is any
>way to dissolve the foam once it has been cured. The ideal chemical
>would break down the PU foam without damaging the wood flooring.
>
>
Are you sure the foam board is PU? I thought most of the foam insulation
board was extruded foamed polystyrene.
Also, be careful in trying to disolve the foam whatever polymer it may be.
Solvents have varying flammability and toxicity and once you squirt it
under the floorboards, you may have bigger problems than a bulge.
Also, also, how are you going to get the solvent to stop dissolving when
the floor is level? You may end-up with a dip replacing the bulge.