Is there anything that can dissolve hardened expanding foam?

Acetone is the only common solvent that will have some effect on foam.

A hot wire cutter will probably prove pretty fruitless. Not only do you have the problem of toxic fumes but polyurethane does not cut well with a hot wire cutter. The foam will just kind of char and the wire won't cut through it just sort of move around the surface. A wire wheel or other mechanical method of removing it is really your only choice.

Nothing that you want to berkeley with...

Use a key hole saw and cut it out. The kind the drywall guys use to cut out boxes before the roto-zip came along.

The plant where I worked molded polyurethane foam seat cushions. To reclaim frames from some of the scrapped parts we used a pressure washer and blasted most of the foam off. Since it was flexible urethane it didn't work perfectly but I would expect it to work better on your rigid foam.

It's probably that 'Great Stuff'. If so, Dow (the manufacturer) says there is no solvent that willl dissolve it once cured.

http://dow-styrofoam.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4579/~/how-do-i-get-great-stuff%E2%84%A2-foam-off-of-my-skin%3F

Even if it hardening.. don't get it on your hootis

I found that I can cut it with a sharp knife.

A box cutter works great.

mad_machine wrote: Even if it hardening.. don't get it on your hootis

32 posts to get to "hootus"? I thought would have been the second or third post.

Twisted wire wheel and an angle grinder.

RealMiniDriver wrote:

mad_machine wrote: Even if it hardening.. don't get it on your hootis

32 posts to get to "hootus"? I thought would have been the second or third post.

YOU BEAT ME TO IT! i was reading through to see if anyone got there yet....

Rufledt wrote:

RealMiniDriver wrote:

mad_machine wrote: Even if it hardening.. don't get it on your hootis

32 posts to get to "hootus"? I thought would have been the second or third post.

YOU BEAT ME TO IT! i was reading through to see if anyone got there yet....

well.. what do you expect... Tough Stuff is harder than Viagra

While I would be cautious about mixing any chemicals I'm not familiar with....

Would aircraft remover work ? I've heard that it's extremely strong/nasty stuff, but never used it myself.

I got some cheap 2 part urethane clearcoat overspray on a windshield once, and the only thing that I could get it off with was a metal blade. Urethane is crazy-durable stuff.

i think the answer is in this thread..

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/need-a-gun-buy-a-shovel/57589/page1/

you need a shovel.

Those wheels are fairly cheap, and one section of track should only cost a little and an hour or so of labor from a garage door place.

Strizzo wrote: Those wheels are fairly cheap, and one section of track should only cost a little and an hour or so of labor from a garage door place.

labor?

you mean, like, pay someone else to fix something as simple as a garage door wheel and track?

really?

In reply to novaderrik:

Well he was talking about paying someone to replace the whole door, so yes, I was talking about gasp paying someone to do something. Everyone does it at some point and it does make sense to do at times.

Well, it looks like we managed to avoid paying someone to work on the door.

After several hours of poking, scraping and swearing I managed to break the bond and open the door by hand. Once it was open, another hour or so of scraping got the majority of the foam off the door frame and the door. That lowered the friction between the door and frame enough so the motor would raise and lower the door. Phew.

Now it's time to remove the remainder of the cabinet that was parked roughly where a car would be and then it's time to remove the carpet. At this rate, we'll have a mostly functioning garage sometime next week.

Feels good to have gone from a single car garage to an (almost) three car garage. Well, first step anyway.

Strizzo wrote: In reply to novaderrik: Well he was talking about paying someone to replace the whole door, so yes, I was talking about *gasp* paying someone to do something. Everyone does it at some point and it does make sense to do at times.

pay someone to replace a section of garage door track does not compute. a whole door- maybe, because those torsion springs kinda suck- but not a $10 section of track and a $3 wheel...

Congrats Tim! I must have missed it in the original post, but it sounds like you're reclaiming a garage that had made into a room. That's good karma.

I have had a broken torsion spring on my attached garage for over a year - I just leave the door up. I haven't ponied up the $200 to pay a pro, and those things scare the bejeebus out of me. And then this weekend the 18' door on my shop started sagging when open, causing the hinge to bind and try to break the door when closing. THAT I'll be fixing myself with some homemade tension cables.

Looks like it's Garage Door season....

MEK will dissolve it,

93EXCivic wrote: MEK will dissolve it,

...as well as your liver and a fair portion of your DNA structure.

And, just because it's awesome, here's this:

Buggah!

ultraclyde wrote: Congrats Tim! I must have missed it in the original post, but it sounds like you're reclaiming a garage that had made into a room. That's good karma.

Yes, the PO of the house used the attached two-car garage as an office. Not the use we had in mind.

ultraclyde wrote: I have had a broken torsion spring on my attached garage for over a year - I just leave the door up. I haven't ponied up the $200 to pay a pro, and those things scare the bejeebus out of me. And then this weekend the 18' door on my shop started sagging when open, causing the hinge to bind and try to break the door when closing. THAT I'll be fixing myself with some homemade tension cables. Looks like it's Garage Door season....

Seems to be. I agree with you, I wouldn't go near a torsion spring of that caliber either, that can go maim someone else...

Congrats on the progress! Great news that you got it freed.

BoxheadTim wrote: ...remove the carpet.

Not sure what the carpet type is, but I've seen a few garages with indoor/outdoor carpeting and it's nice! Probably not great if you drive leaky cars, but it's nice not to have hot/cold concrete floors!

Methylene chloride, aka the stuff in aircraft stripper, 3M adhesive remover, MEK, possibly toluene.

All of which are between very bad to extremely bad for you.

Using heat will allow it to release the delicious and healthy isocyanates to work on your brain, so avoid that.