Does spray expanding foam absorb odors?

[JimHansen77]

Hello Everyone

New owner of a 2002 Hunter 356.

A previous owner sprayed expanding foam into the space between the hull and the shower pan in the wet bathroom. When I purchased the boat the head was leaking and a mix of urine and water was draining into the shower drain. It turns out the head wasn't sealed to the pan and so that liquid was also leaking into the bilge via the lag screw holes holding down the head. The urine odor in the head is remarkably overpowering. Looking online I get mixed information about whether or not that foam is absorbent. Might anyone here on the forum have experience or views about this? Removing the foam would require cutting a large hole in the shower pan and so I don't want to tackle it if it's not necessary.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[jssailem]

I would ask @Peggie Hall HeadMistress

She had resolved many a smell in a boat.

 

[PaulK]

Some expanding foams may be closed cell. Some are not. We had expanding foam in the bilge of our center console skiff, for flotation. It was not closed cell, so it absorbed any water that got in there. The boat ended up floating six inches below its waterline because of the extra weight. We ended up cutting out the entire deck and removed the foam by digging it out with a garden spade, one dripping ten pound shovelful at a time. It sounds like you need a tool to cut open the pan, a carbon filter mask, goggles, heavy duty gloves and some knives for cutting out foam.

P.S.: if you can cut the pan out in one piece you may be able to 'glass it back in when you're done. It would be much quicker than having to rebuild the pan from scratch.

 

[JimHansen77]

Hello Everyone

New owner of a 2002 Hunter 356.

A previous owner sprayed expanding foam into the space between the hull and the shower pan in the wet bathroom. When I purchased the boat the head was leaking and a mix of urine and water was draining into the shower drain. It turns out the head wasn't sealed to the pan and so that liquid was also leaking into the bilge via the lag screw holes holding down the head. The urine odor in the head is remarkably overpowering. Looking online I get mixed information about whether or not that foam is absorbent. Might anyone here on the forum have experience or views about this? Removing the foam would require cutting a large hole in the shower pan and so I don't want to tackle it if it's not necessary.

Thanks,
Jim

I ended up gaining access to the space below the shower pan buy cutting into the space where the sanitation hose emerges from below the shower pan. It is at the foot of the bed in the aft cabin. The pix below shows where I made the cut. The hoses emanating from the hole on the right are the manual bilge pump hose and a raw water hose for a cockpit washdown.

Jim

 

[Project_Mayhem]

A racoon decided to make it's bed on top of the floatation foam in my little motor boat. What tools did you fine useful when removing the foam? I have decent access

 

[JimHansen77]

A racoon decided to make it's bed on top of the floatation foam in my little motor boat. What tools did you fine useful when removing the foam? I have decent access

Good morning. I'm not sure my experience will be helpful for you. Because my access was so limited I had to get very creative. I used a 3ft length of threaded rod to perforate the foam I could get to, and then used a couple of nuts to secure a washer to the end of the rod so I could push at the foam to break it up. i iterated back and forth between the hole poking and the washer pushing/pulling for hours and hours over many days. I tossed a couple of inexpensive headlamps into the space and used a borescope to guide my efforts. I pushed a shopvac hose into the space to clear out the bits of foam I was able to break free. I had a few areas I couldn't access with any tool I had on hand and so made hooked tools of various size and design by welding bits of rebar together. It took a lot of patience, time, and boat yoga.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Wow that does sound like a pain. Props for pulling it off!