Swim Platform Help

[volfo]

I am in the same boat right now as Jesse. I just pulled the pad off in one big sheet. Super Easy. The stuff beneath it, been working on it for 3 hours now and have about 10% of it off. Any help out there at all? I wish I had never bought the seadek at this point.

[newyear14]

Power sander? I've read in a thread here that gasoline works.

[davinci]

Save yourselves a whole lot of problems use laquer thinner, apply it with a brush, wait 5 min and it should come right off with a scraper without even damaging the color coat on the edge of the platform. We remove adhesives all day long in my shop.

[volfo]

I started with laquer thinner. pouring it on. working just a little bit - better than anything else but still horrible. I didn't apply with brush. I will try again. When it is wet with the laquer thinner the top layer of glue will come off, but mostly just the top layer still leaving a little layer of "tape" underneath it. When you say "brush" do you mean a paint brush or a scrubbing brush?

This sucks. I cannot state what a mess this is. I wonder if I really need the glue off before I put the pad down???

[volfo]

At this point, I wonder how much a new swim platform costs. IF the lacquer waits 5 minutes, it is straight up dried/evaporated. I cannot figure out a single thing to get this off. I may just end up putting the Seadek over the top of it.

What I can't figure out is why mine is apparently so hard to get off adn everyone else was able to get theirs off. Again, the old pad just peeled right off in 2 minutes. It is the film/tape/glue underneath it that straight from the bowels of hell that is driving me crazy.

[davinci]

Volfo I think the first thing you need to do is sit back have a brewsky and relax, leave it for tommorrow.
A new swim platform is almost $1800.00 I know I called for one. I agree that the thinner evaporates and thats ok because it still weakens the glue, just brush enough on with a paint brush and be sure to use laquer thinner and not paint thinner. BTW i've looked at some seadek pics of members here and i can honestly say by the looks of it, it's gonna be one of best moves you've made.

[volfo]

I am giving up for tonight. four and one-half hours tonight and I would say I have less than 15% of the platform clean. I was using lacquer thinner, and I also tried a little gasoline, goo off, windex, a hair dryer, and various combinations of the above.

I am going to let it sit in the hot Tennessee sun tomorrow and see if that makes any difference. I was trying on my workbench tonight. This should not be that hard.

It appears that all any of the above chemicals I have tried do is remove a layer of glue that sits on top of a layer of some sort of film that seems a lot like tape, and which then has glue underneath it.

I am open for suggestions as I will be back at it tomorrow night probably. We are trying to head to the lake Saturday . . .

[wolfeman131]

heating up in the sun and the goof off/goo gone stuff worked for me

I also had my two daughters working to peel the crap off while I watched, drinking a beer Good luck getting it done before you head out.

[wolfeman131]

yeah, what Ed says

but . . .

if the gas doesn't work after 5 min, skip the soapy water part, light that thing on fire, make some smores and have a beer while you order up a new platform

[volfo]

I will try again after work tonight. Thanks for the tips. I think the problem is that I was able to pull off the old factory pad so easily, and when I did it, it kind of "delaminated" in that I think I was supposed to get the film with it and I did not. So now I have the film on top. I also have a borrowed heat gun lined up for tonight.

Ed, did you have just excess glue residue that you were able to get off with gas or did you also have the film stuff left on your deck? I keep thinking that layer should have peeled off with the pad, but it didn't. I guess I should have gone slow and used a heat gun. Truth be told, the boat is an 01 and the pad was peeling up at the edges.