Foam insulation removal

Reg · May 18, 2011

I think I have seen wire "flail" paint removal tools that fit into electric drill chucks.
Probably a LITTLE less tedious than razor blade scraping.

AGGIE00 · May 18, 2011

forgeblast said:
I am planning to spray some foam this summer, after reading this I am going to buy a lot of drop cloths.

Just buy light mil painters plastic and cover. This ordeal is not as bad as is made out to be. Half a day and a couple hundred bucks will remedy the situation, which I'm sure the contractor will be more than happy to pick up. I can't see going to insurance being the cheaper route, though it is up to him and his premiums. We use plastic most of the time because it is so much cheaper than the labor to scrape the foam.

ole farmerbuck · May 18, 2011

The adjuster was here today for about an hour or so. He was amazed at the mess and how hard it is to get scraped.

ole farmerbuck · May 18, 2011

AGGIE00 said:
Just buy light mil painters plastic and cover. This ordeal is not as bad as is made out to be. Half a day and a couple hundred bucks will remedy the situation, which I'm sure the contractor will be more than happy to pick up. I can't see going to insurance being the cheaper route, though it is up to him and his premiums. We use plastic most of the time because it is so much cheaper than the labor to scrape the foam.

How would
you remedy this in a half day? I'm all ears.

AGGIE00 · May 18, 2011

ole farmerbuck said:
How would
you remedy this in a half day? I'm all ears.

Are both buildings needing to be cleaned? I would assume the contractor has already scraped the floor and removed debris leaving only the residue. If so a floor sander with a few 80 grit screens will clean it up. You will probably go through 10 screens and 2 or 3 pads. After it is sanded blow the dust out and wet mop it. Once it's dry use an airless sprayer to apply the seal. I did this axact same thing on my personal 30X50 building. My rational behind not covering the floors was because there was already so much trash and sheetrock dust and mud on the floor that it wouldn't matter. We always seem to cut corners on our own projects. After scraping the concrete it took 3 hours to have it ready for seal. Everyone who sees the floor loves it and wants to know what stain we used, which we didn't. I'm not saying it won't take work, but it isn't hard or expensive to remedy. If you want pics of the end product I can send them.

ole farmerbuck · May 19, 2011

AGGIE00 said:
Are both buildings needing to be cleaned? I would assume the contractor has already scraped the floor and removed debris leaving only the residue. If so a floor sander with a few 80 grit screens will clean it up. You will probably go through 10 screens and 2 or 3 pads. After it is sanded blow the dust out and wet mop it. Once it's dry use an airless sprayer to apply the seal. I did this axact same thing on my personal 30X50 building. My rational behind not covering the floors was because there was already so much trash and sheetrock dust and mud on the floor that it wouldn't matter. We always seem to cut corners on our own projects. After scraping the concrete it took 3 hours to have it ready for seal. Everyone who sees the floor loves it and wants to know what stain we used, which we didn't. I'm not saying it won't take work, but it isn't hard or expensive to remedy. If you want pics of the end product I can send them.

NO he hasnt done any scraping. He tried buffing it off but stopped instantly when he saw it was only burning it into the cement. The pic in post 15 is about 3' square, there's a lot of drops. When I get time, I might try sealing a spot we have scraped the best we can just to see if it will accept the sealer.

AGGIE00 · May 19, 2011

ole farmerbuck said:
NO he hasnt done any scraping. He tried buffing it off but stopped instantly when he saw it was only burning it into the cement. The pic in post 15 is about 3' square, there's a lot of drops. When I get time, I might try sealing a spot we have scraped the best we can just to see if it will accept the sealer.

The overspray must be removed by scraping first. If you don't it will cause uneven sanding and you will go through hundreds of screnes. You can purchase floor scrapers from paint or construction supply stores.

deepNdirt · May 19, 2011

With the size building you have, Ideally this would be the one to use,:thumbsup: although I'm sure a smaller version of this machine would work OK, would just take longer, suggest to the contractor to try an rent one of these to remove the stains,

if watch through the video he will show just how much it will remove,
YouTube - ‪Concrete Grinding Equipment Video?ConcreteNetwork.com‬‏

ole farmerbuck · May 19, 2011

The contractor is 250 miles away. There isnt any place even close to this tiny community to rent something like the video shows. I'm still thinking....