Cleaning up after spray foam job - tips?

[Dave-H]

The spray foam is in!

We just about filled the 2x4 cavities, and filled most of the 2x6 cavities with closed cell foam. It's looking good!

But now for the cleanup. We had a little snafu: I am planning on leaving the rafters exposed and drywalling all the way up to the ceiling. But the foam guys didn't mask the rafters so there is a lot of overspray on them.

Actually, I am considering staining the rafters so that would need them to be in prime condition.

Has anyone had to deal with scraping/sanding off cc foam from standard studs/dimensional lumber like this? I tried it with a putty knife and it works, but it's not easy because the surface is uneven and that stuff is strong - so it's more like chiseling away with a putty knife.

I am tempted to scrape off the big pieces, then break out a little orbital sander and see if I can just sand off the remaining residue. I'm a little nervous about the dust and I don't have a respirator, though.

 

[My Old Tools]

I have cleaned up smaller areas after foaming around doors and windows. It's damn near impossible to remove all traces. It's hard enough to scrape it down level to put trim over it.
Maybe someone makes some magic sauce for it.

 

[AnthonyJ124]

That could be a real pain of a job. I'd probably box the rafters with pine before I tried cleaning all that off.

 

[Dave-H]

Yea I'm tempted to just paint the rafters instead of staining, simply to avoid having to deal with this! But even if I did that, I think they'd have to be sanded a bit.

There's gotta be some way, though

 

[rlitman]

Mineral spirits soften closed cell urethane foam? Ha.
I'd suggest a knife to start with. If you can find something with a chisel grind (bevel on one side), so you can quickly trim flush to the wood, that would be best (maybe a $10 sushi knife or something like that). Then sand to finish. The more you can cleanly cut, the less sanding dust you'll need to make.

 

[Lee Celtic]

I know when I was building a raft for a race (don't ask but we came 9th out of 40) I used spray foam to seal and give flotation..

To clean up the floor afterwards I tried this stuff on the off chance.(we use it to clean off glue at work).. the foam just dissolved and wiped off..

Don't know if you can get it over there but it's good stuff..

 

[finn]

Acetone?

 

[DC73]

TI am tempted to scrape off the big pieces, then break out a little orbital sander and see if I can just sand off the remaining residue. I'm a little nervous about the dust and I don't have a respirator, though.

I think this is your best bet. You don't need a respirator but you will need a good dust mask.

DC

 

[1949 caddyman]

I would get a paint match on the foam & paint them.

 

[Marctrees]

Scrape the bulk of the foam off with wide stiff blade putty knife, with the edge ground on one side to be more like a wood chisel.

Then quick coarse sand and paint.

Just a regular like 3M disposable particle mask should be good when sanding.

NO NO way you will be able to stain them at this point, even if you find a solvent to remove the foam residue, the stain will be very blotchy and uneven.

I would be shocked if it didn't turn out ugly. (Staining)

Painting will turn out great, just not the wood tone you originally desired.

O, and water "latex" base paint of course. "Oil" base may screw w the foam residue, no matter what type like soy, corn, whatever.

 

[mili]

If you have completed a work involving spray foam insulation, then there is a chance that you will have some of the material on your hands.Some tips that can be used is that if the spray foam insulation is still wet, you can use acetone to remove it from your skin.If you have waited too long then the first technique will not work then use your finger nails or other scraping tool to remove the bulk of the insulation

 

[toyotadriver]

Get some fiberglass insulation with the white plastic layer on the exposed side. The type you see in exposed insulation buildings. Buy the right size for your ceiling rafter spacing. Staple it in. You now have increased the r value and covered up the ugly foam....and you have a white ceiling to reflect more light.

 

[Dave-H]

Get some fiberglass insulation with the white plastic layer on the exposed side. The type you see in exposed insulation buildings. Buy the right size for your ceiling rafter spacing. Staple it in. You now have increased the r value and covered up the ugly foam....and you have a white ceiling to reflect more light.

Not sure if i understand this. The bays are mostly full so that would just lead to more protruding stuff to deal with?

 

[Dave-H]

Scrape the bulk of the foam off with wide stiff blade putty knife, with the edge ground on one side to be more like a wood chisel.

Then quick coarse sand and paint.

Just a regular like 3M disposable particle mask should be good when sanding.

NO NO way you will be able to stain them at this point, even if you find a solvent to remove the foam residue, the stain will be very blotchy and uneven.

I would be shocked if it didn't turn out ugly. (Staining)

Painting will turn out great, just not the wood tone you originally desired.

O, and water "latex" base paint of course. "Oil" base may screw w the foam residue, no matter what type like soy, corn, whatever.

Only the ends of the wood really got sprayed, i.e. where the rafters tie to the top of the walls. So, about 18 of the 20 foot length is in good shape. So, I still don't want to give up!

I got out a putty knife and an orbital sander and was able to get things up to the level in the pic below. If I look close, I can see that (with an 80 disc) i removed most of the spray foam but it seems like some of the spray foam dust got pushed into the wood. Well, I can't really tell that but it seems so. But it's minimal, so maybe it can come out well. It might be a bit rougher at the edges.

Or am I crazy?

 

[strength_and_power]

Get an electric turkey carving knife from Walmart. That will take out the big chunks then use your sander

 

[Dave-H]

That's actually a great idea!

 

[PoorOwner]

You can probably do a wipe down with MF towel and acetone after your process. But why does it need to be so perfectly prepped since this is not going to be stained and varnished ?

 

[Dave-H]

It definitely doesn't have to be perfect, but these are going to be exposed/visible so I originally intended to paint then but staining them could look nicer.

Obviously I'm not going for any kind of fantastic finish, but a decent stain would make me happy. I'm building a video studio in the garage so cosmetic matters.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[PoorOwner]

If you are staining just be aware you want to have the whole piece sanded in the same grit. So you may end up needing to sand the whole thing for even stain absorption. But then even if you don't it maybe something only you would notice or know.

I vote paint unless you hate your neck and have lots of time!

 

[Brian_WK]

Could also do a semi transparent stain. Its not so picky on the sanding as it kind of hides imperfections but also still lets the grain of the wood show through.

Electric turkey carving knife will work. Just don't let the blade get hot or it will gum up when the foam melts to it. Was using one to cut foam board and this happened. So I switched to a air saw. Which might work for this if you can find a 4 inch long blade for it. Then sand.

Brian

 

[gunguy]

If you're still open to suggestions, I'd experiment a little. Get some scrap wood, especially if it has some foam over-spray on it. If you don't, spray some scrap with some foam. Scrape it, sand it then stain or paint it. Once you're done, hang it from the rafter ties and take a look at it. If it meets your expectations, go for it. Remember, things look different at arm's length then they do at a distance.

Just depends on the time and effort you want to put into it.

JIm