Sealant Removal (1 Viewer)

[MickyP]

I am about to change my roof vent for another with a fan, what is the best way to clean the (Sikaflex) type sealant which seems to get everywhere ????

 

[pappajohn]

maybe white spirit if its still wet.

if its dry...nothing, just trim the excess with a craft knife and leave the rest.

 

[Allanm]

Ive used a De.Solv-it sealant remover kit. It removes acrylic and silicon sealer and available from Amazon.
Do as Pappajohn says and scrape off as much sealant as you can. Then apply the sealant remover, leave 20 minutes and the rest just wipes away.
Well, thats the theory. In practice, although it works, it needs a bit more elbow grease.
Never used it on Sikaflex but it should work.

Allan

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[FULL TIMER]

We always use a non setting bedding mastic for roof vents something like this Broken Link Removed
depend how flat your roof is I tend to put two good thick beads around the vent flange using almost a tube per vent, when screwed dow or clamped depending on the vent fixing method plenty will squelch out around the edges, you should be able to scrape nearly all of this off using a plastic filler spreader or something similar any excess left a bit of white spirit on a clean rag or better still break cleaner. we found that the polyurethane mastics like sikaflex, tigerseal etc can eventually separate from the plastic letting water in. just noticed the link takes you to a grey coloured mastic, white is also available

 

[Traveller_HA5_3DOM]

You will find that sykaflex is not normally used as an original fit because it works so well and it is very time consuming to remove.
If you do have it fitted I use a commercial cheese wire and a couple of sort lengths of broom handle to make a hand held cutter. With this you can get all you need to remove from the van roof. Remember with sykaflex you need to leave a couple of mill thickness to obtain it's strength. If you pull it right down with the screws it does not have the same strength so make up some spacers to give you that gap and remember to put some more in those areas when you remove them.
I generally use thinners to degrease the area before applying new stuff, it drys really quick.

 

[mentaliss]

I am about to change my roof vent for another with a fan, what is the best way to clean the (Sikaflex) type sealant which seems to get everywhere ????

bar far the best! Tec7 adhesive remover will not damage your plastic as its not chemically based, been using it for years:Cool:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}