I had water soak one of the ceiling panels due to poor installation of the solar panel by Barth.

The vinyl in that area has gotten hard as a rock and shrunk a bit. It is pulling out of the joint at one end.

Is there any thing that can be used to soften vinyl?

It is a lot of work to pull that panel down and I am afraid that I would not get a good match if I replaced that one section. I am afraid the luan behind the vinyl and sponge may be compromised but so far the panel is not drooping.

quote:

Originally posted by MWrench:


The vinyl in that area has gotten hard as a rock and shrunk a bit.

Is there any thing that can be used to soften vinyl?

I have used a hair dryer to soften vinyl enough to stretch it, but never when it was rock hard. I say hair dryer because a heat gun can become too hot too fast.

I have also used baby oil, but again, not on anything rock hard. Perhaps just rubbing some in daily for a while.

Thanks Bill, I will try baby oil first. I am not sure if it is the vinyl that is hard or the material behind the vinyl, for sure the vinyl has shrunk though.

I understand about the hair dryer/heat gun, BTDT!

A word to the wise on this situation....check the installation of your solar panel on a regular basis. The brackets they used are prone to leaking without you knowing it. Make sure they are sealed all along the flat edge well. This is the same place ours leaked in Barth 1 and we ended up with the same problem. And I agree with Ed about doing the repair. To do it properly you need to take all the cabinets down, as the ceiling panels goes wall to wall. I explained to the new owners what our game plan was going to be to fix it over this winter. I believe they are going to take the Breakaway to someone to fix it. My idea was to cut the vinyl back and examine the board underneath. If it needed replacing, then I was going to cut everything to the edge of the cabinets and replace it from there in and use 1/4 round molding along the cabinets. If the board was in good shape I was just going to replace the vinyl and again, use the 1/4 round along the edges. I did not feel that the existing vinyl could be stretched to be restapled under the cross bow.
Just my 2 cents on the subject....