Removing carpet glue off hightop fibreglass

[Jonnyb416]

Does anybody know of a way to scrape this glue/carpet off without damaging the fibreglass?

It's a bit easier on the metal as you can be a bit more heavy handed.

Thanks, Jon.

[Jeff J]

Have you tried cellulose thinners? You would need plenty of ventilation though.

[Jonnyb416]

I've not and thanks for your input. My father in law used to be an area manager at United carpets and he mentioned using acetone as that may remove it from the roof but he said it would go all stringy and stick together. In which case I could pull it off easier. I was just a bit unsure on how this or something like thinners would affect the fibreglass.

The van is pretty much a shell right now so ventilation isn't a problem. I used a DA sander on some of the metal which helped get rid of the final stragglers, however, I wouldn't like to sand the fibreglass for fear of making a hole. Jon.

[terryvanman]

If the old glue has gone hard...try just sanding down the highlights [Palm sander] and then go over it with new glue and carpet...If you try to remove it with any type of thinners or acetone {nail varnish remover} you are going to end up with a permanent gooey mess.

[Jonnyb416]

I was wanting to cover the roof in a closed cell foam insulation (kids play mats) before re-carpeting. I did a test using a hi-temp spray adhesive; a small piece stuck to grey areas and another to the yellow areas. Neither worked very well so I may need to rethink the insulation type or the adhesive used.

I was hoping to get away with not removing the old glue. I may try a polyurethane sealant/adhesive to stick the insulation to the roof but will then need to test how well the hi-temp adhesive sticks the carpet to the insulation.

[Tobias13]

In a similar situation myself. Took old carpet off high top and did a test with carpet and foil type insulation, neither would stick well. I cleaned the area and used different glue but no great results. I wanted to do a quick fix as I plan a resto in the next few years.

In the end I cut 3mm ply panels for all the roof sections, I have applied foil insulation to one side and carpet the other, they will then be screwed to ply strips glues to the roof. not sure on the actual working effectiveness of this method but I needed to get it done and I didn't fancy carpeting the roof in one go!!

[Jonnyb416]

Yeah I was originally planning using that method but hoped I could avoid the plywood for weight, space and cost reasons.

I'm now wondering if I really need insulation up there anyway? Kids in a sleeping bag! Not like I'd be taking them out in the depths if winter!

[Tobias13]

I had thought long and hard about it, but after asking on here and reading threads it seems some type of insulation is preferable!!

Have u camped this year yet? Went to bus types 2 weeks ago and it was Baltic at night!!

The way i look at it as I have gone to the effort to strip out so £30 for ply is not to greater cost, and is fully demountable for me to remove easily in a yr or so!!

I'll get some pics later!!

[Jonnyb416]

Thanks mate some pictures would be great. I suppose this option is looking more and more like the one I will go for.

Did you ply line and insulate the entire hightop or just the flat roof bit? If that makes sense.

I haven't camped yet this year. I am yet to camp in my van. Done plenty of camping in a tent but only really in the summer months. I guess my reason for getting the van was to spend more time away and some of that will be during spring and autumn.

[Tobias13]

The whole lot!! I was fortunate to have fibreglass panels for two thirds of the sides, so only had to cut rear panels!! I will carpet and insulate these also!!

I stuck the ply strips with silicone as a temp measure and dry fitted to ensure it all fits, I will then restick with sikaflex and screw the insulated/carpeted panels to them!!

[Tobias13]

Sorry for the delay, this site is amazing but I find uploading photos unnecessarily difficult compared to other forums!!

[Jonnyb416]

Cheers for that
I am going to have to get my thinking cap on and work out the best way to ply line mine. There are many contours/ridges in my Sheldon hightop that will make it not so straight forward. My initial thought is to just ply line and insulate the very top flat part of the roof. Going back to my original problem I think carpet will stick to the grey areas on the hightop (will test that next week) if it does it could ply line the flat part of the roof then maybe double up the carpet on the contoured sections as that will act as insulation to a degree.

All this wouldn't be so much of a problem if my misses would just scrape off all the old glue like I asked her to

[Tobias13]

It wasn't easy doing the templates, I to have many contours, just chose the high one and covered the lows!! I started with card, then hardboard and flush trimmed with router onto 3 mm ply!!

Homemade router table, ugly but works, just !!