Is there anything that can dissolve hardened expanding foam?

I just made a very unpleasant discovery, namely that the PO of our house fixed some drafts into the garage (the one they used as a office) with expanding foam.

That fixed the draft alright, and it also glued the berkeleying door shut. So much for "just remove the insulation we put against the door, hook up the garage door opener and you're good". I managed to clean up and break the seal around 3/4th of the door, but the remaining part has seen very generous application of the foam, right down to encasing one of the wheels and the track in a ton of foam.

Is there anything that can dissolve the cured foam, without at the same time dissolving the door, the wheel and killing me a and a bunch of polar bears?

A least this answered the question nobody ask, namely "who'd glue a garage door shut with expanding foam?" The people we bought a house from .

Vinegar? Acetone?

lacquer thinner?

I dunno

it can be some tough stuff... I used it in insulating my kitchen.. which, due to thin walls, I had to do in 2 inch hard foam.. I used the expanding stuff to fill the gaps..

I found this stuff on the Home Depot site, probably going to give it a try tomorrow: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202103458/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=expanding+foam+remover&storeId=10051

whatever spray paint i tried to paint it with

Try spraying it with PB blaster? It dissolves Styrofoam cups.

Pressure washer? Any idea what that stuff is made of? If it is some sort of closed cell polyurethane, solvents will not have much, if any, effect.

My guess is that it's the standard expanding foam sold at the likes of Lowes Depot etc.

If it does turn out to be polyurethane, it won't dissolve by any solvent but a polar solvent might dissolve some of its composition making it swell and become, which would help with mechanical removal.

Kill it with fire!

Wait, don't do that. That is a bad idea.

i've yet to find anything that dissolves the cured foam except UV light. sunlight kills it.

acetone cleans up uncured as will lacquer thinner. but cured stuff is a bear. stays on clothes forever, wear it off your hands over a week or so, etc...

don't get it on anything you don't want it on for a very long time.

expanding foam IS polyurethane. And no, you're stuck with it. I tried every solvent known to man with no luck

Stuck with it means that unless I can mechanically remove it, I'm looking at getting a double garage door replaced. There goes the 911 budget, I'd guess...

OA torch, SO on fire watch w/ garden hose and 911 on speed dial

fasted58 wrote: OA torch, SO on fire watch w/ garden hose and 911 on speed dial

Polyurethane produces highly toxic chemicals when burned. So probably don't want to do this.

Give a powerful pressure washer a try though. If you feel you already might have to replace the door, you don't have too much to loose by blasting it right?

Actually I figure if I can get the door panels unglued, a decent garage door company should be able to bend a track to match and then replace the wheels that run in the the track, no?

fritzsch wrote:

fasted58 wrote: OA torch, SO on fire watch w/ garden hose and 911 on speed dial

Polyurethane produces highly toxic chemicals when burned. So probably don't want to do this. Give a powerful pressure washer a try though. If you feel you already might have to replace the door, you don't have too much to loose by blasting it right?

Edit: * wearing Scott air pack and HAZMAT on speed dial

Force it open, I bet the foam bonds break before a bonded aluminum door.

I'm fairly confident I can get a putty knife in between the door and the frame to break the bond. The main issue is that the bottom of the door track is encased in a big blob of foam that encases the bottom wheel and the track.

I'll make another attempt tomorrow with more tools and hope I can free the whole thing up, otherwise it might be time to call a garage door company.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

An art store "hot wire cutter" might get you closer to the parts you want to keep. Google that term and you will find one from sears for about sixty bucks.

Other than that, your idea to replace the tracks should work. What a bunch of E36 M3.

I almost bought a house with a garage like that once....

The hot wire cutter seems like it might work. Is it possible to remove or partially remove the door tracks to get access? What you found seems likely to work. It's too bad that MEK is restricted so severly, this sounds like something MEK would make short work of. It melts plastic quickly.

Stick a wire wheel on a 4" angle grinder, it will get that crap off.

Shotgun?

JThw8 wrote: Stick a wire wheel on a 4" angle grinder, it will get that crap off.

This, wear a mask.