Filler not going hard

tom1ie

Hi all,

I put in a couple of extra sockets over the weekend and chased out a couple of tracks in insulated plasterboard.

After researching I seen that people had used expanding foam and then fillers to cover the chasing.

I’ve tried this on one wall and the filler is spongy, or rather the expanding foam beneath it is spongy.

On the other wall I pulled out all the expanding foam and used the poly cell filler (good for up to 50mm deep apparently) and it’s spongy also?

Any ideas? Am I better off pulling it all out and using bonding plaster and skim/fillers?

The expanding foam I used was a generic one I got from a builders suppliers- maybe I should have got the poly cell stuff? 🤦‍♂️

10-10-20

Expanding foam doesn't set hard, but the filler should. I'd have left about a 10mm gap between the foam and surface finish for the filler. The fillers are air drying products and they will need to be fully dry before they harden up. I'd expect that to take about 1 to 2 days on a deeper section but I had one which was about 5cm deep which took about a week.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120263943#Comment_120263943

That’s good to know as the chasing that I took the expanding foam back out of is still very soft- even though I filled it on Saturday evening, so I’ll let that settle for a bit.

The other alcove I’d say I’ll have to pull the expanding foam back about 10mm as you say.

BowWow

Some expandible foams need a bit of water on the surfaces to start the curing process.

tom1ie

Yeah I sprayed the surface with a small hand held plant sprayer type thing but only slightly wet the surface.

The fillers are still spongy!!!

Lumen

Maybe use better filler. I got some Toupret TX110 on recommendation and it's great stuff.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120268449#Comment_120268449

I’m using poly cell advanced filler:

https://www.handyhardware.ie/Polycell-Advanced-Polyfilla-600ml_p_70567.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy-9BMqBd_nzU_G_5FLgXVBQCYKX5Lb2EOsKSKXlZXhdgGZ85A07x0BoCRRQQAvD_BwE

i presumed this stuff would be pretty good?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120269866#Comment_120269866

That's the grey-gritty stuff?

If so, I have used it, it's really lightweight and does take some time to go off.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270338#Comment_120270338

Yeah that’s it.

When you give it a good stir in the bucket it gets smooth- but I wouldn’t be singing its praises. I’ll check this evening when I get home to see if it’s gone off.

Depending how much you apply the poly fill can take a bit to dry fully. If it’s a good bit into the wall you might need to re plaster maybe.

That said I’ve gotten the filler from dealz one time to fill a few inches inch deep hole caused by a door handle banging off the wall and it was fine! Took a few days to go completely hard to sand it and repaint though.