Removing hydro turf grrrrrr!

[robert843]

So been at it an hour and a half and don't even have a quarter of the first matt off I'm about to break out the power sander and say goodbye to this stuff unless anyone else has a great idea. Current method was using plastic putty knives went to a metal putty knife it was even worse.

 

[Speedling]

Heat gun?
Any sort of chemical?

 

[thcole]

Lots of scraping, lots of beer and lots of frustration.

 

[robert843]

Any recommendations on a grit to go with on the power sander

 

[robert843]

Heat gun?
Any sort of chemical?

I have tried heat and several chemicals all have actually seem to make the job worse.

 

[Retired37]

thcole said it correctly ------but he forgot patience (Lots of PATIENCE)........This is a time consuming process. There is another feed about this issue on here; I just cannot remember where it is. I have used 3M remover, put it on let it set; let it set; let it set, and scrap, scrap, scrap. I have tried the heat gun; that appeared to actually make the glue stick even more. Now that I have mine out of the interior of the boat, I am not really sure that I want to put the new set in; knowing this issue for removing. I still have the swim deck to remove.

I wish you luck on endeavor..

 

[PEARCE]

It's best to do the job when the air is cool or even cold. Don't even sit on an unstripped section because your butt heat will get it too warm. Heat is your enemy on this chore. Take your time on peeling the mats up too. When I did my swimdeck back in February I was able to pull all but two pieces up in one piece. Doing the job confirmed that I don't want to put it throughout the boat because of the pain it would be to pull it up to replace it.

 

[4x15mph]

Have you tried a razor blade scraper with slow motion? What about one of the electric power oscillating tools with the scraper/cutter attachment?

I haven't done this so I don't have any real experience. I do want to see the final solution.

 

[robert843]

Mine is not coming up in any kind of one piece it's almost disintegrating as I started taking apart the glue is not even coming up with goo be gone or acetone

 

[Chillypilot]

Mine pulled of fairly easy. I used steam to clean off the residual glue. If you have a steam cleaner you might want to try that.

 

[waterboy]

I thought I read somewhere that xylene or kerosene is the solvent of choice for the adhesive. I think the other key is cooler weather, rather than warmer, same as others have said. Good luck...

 

[itsdgm]

I used some type of thinner (possibly lacquer) and a hand held wire brush. Worked in small areas and made sure that the chemicals stayed within the working area. Then acetone for final cleanup.

 

[robert843]

Well now into hour 7 of this and I'm not even 30% down getting the old deck off ahhh

 

[Pinhacker71]

What's the hammer for?

 

[Bruce]

Mine had sat in a cool garage all winter. The only section that was a problem was where I had warmed it up by sitting on it. Most of mine came up in close to full sheets.

Perhaps try using bags of ice to cool it?

Where I had trouble I used acetone and an ice scraper to clean off the glue.

I believe that Will removes the old material with a pressure washer.

 

[robert843]

What's the hammer for?

The only real success I have had has been using a six way Painters tool with the hammer. I get the tool in place then I tap it with the hammer to push it through the biggest problem I think I'm having is my Hydro turf was so dried out and brittlebut it's just tearing apart into pieces. If I ever could've got a good edge started where I could pull it up in a piece I think that would help but it just wasn't possible it would start to disintegrate and ship apart

 

[robert843]

On a more positive note though I did install the manhole repair kit to the cleanout plugs today and that makes a huge difference. If anybody is having the sticking Cleanout plug issue you should try that kit. The plugs and now slide in the hole with no pressure whatsoever and you just push and it locks same on release pull straight out no issues

 

[veedubtek]

Sounds like you are reliving my summer experiences. I feel your pain, brother. Mine was also a nightmare. My best weapon was a wife with a great work ethic and no job, lol.

 

[robert843]

Sounds like you are reliving my summer experiences. I feel your pain, brother. Mine was also a nightmare. My best weapon was a wife with a great work ethic and no job, lol.

Lol.... Well I used multiple tools today. Started with a plastic putty knife I could see that this would work ok if you had old glue and turf was in fair condition. Used a 6 way painters tool this would probably be the tool of choice if the turf wanted to cooperate. I did try the power sander but only had 220 grit paper and it did nothing of value. The last tool that I used and was trying to avoid as I knew it would be aggressive is a gasket scrapper. This works well but as mention very aggressive I was pretty much shredding the turf off. Started at 9:30am quit for the night at 7:30pm probably about 2/3 to3/4 of the way through the removal on the back still have not started the anchor locker or above the head. I did throw a few other tasks in during that time frame cleaned all the removable seat cushions and did the repair to the clean out plugs. Hoping to restart in the morning and at least finish getting the old crap off tomorrow.

 

[veedubtek]

If it makes you feel any better, the swim deck was the absolute worst. Everything else went fairly smoothly (or at least seemed to as it was much smaller pieces)