Re:Decorative wallboard
[quote author=MawCraig link=board=2;threadid=1737;start=msg12234#msg12234 date=1078408812]The water got behind the wallboard which is now swollen in some spots and disintegrating in others.[/quote]
I'm trying to remember the construction in my '02 TM, which is locked in the garage, and I thought it was aluminum skin inside and out. But aluminum wouldn't swell and disintegrate.
It sounds like your wallboard is a pressboard/chipboard type of material. Once this gets wet and starts to disintegrate, it can't be repaired. It also loses all structural integrity, so it will continue to cause problems. Where it swells, it will drag as the shells slide past each other as you open and close. My recommendation would be to remove it. Perhaps you can cut a slot through the board and slide a knife behind it to separate it from the underlying foam, so you can leave the foam in place. But I doubt it. The best answer may be to simply cut out the damaged board, and the foam underneath it as well. Clean out the foam cavity, and put a new slab of foam in place, gluing it to the outer skin. Foam slab is cheap and easily available as insulation in Home Depot-type stores - make sure it is closed-cell foam!
Now choose a wallboard material to make a patch out of. It can be the same as the old material, but it doesn't have to be. The important thing is that it should have the same thickness as the old. Masonite "tempered hardboard" is pretty easy to work with, and has a nice smooth front finish. Cut a new piece of board material, as a patch to fit closely inside the opening. Mounting the patch solidly will be the tricky part. Cut some 2" wide strips of the new board material. Put glue on 1" of the width, and slide that gluey half behind the solid wall material all around the hole. This glues the strips to the back side of the undamaged wallboard, and leaves a 1"-wide ledge sticking out into the opening. Let the glue dry, then put glue on the ledge, press the new patch of wallboard onto the gluey ledge, and hold it until the glue sets.
Gorilla Glue is great for this sort of thing.
Now you have a solid flat patch where the swollen and disintegrated wallboard used to be. Re-wallpaper the area to make it look decent.
Did that make sense? I think it's one of those things that's easier done than said.
Bill
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