WARNING - DON'T USE PEEL AND SEAL (or ROOFING Materials) FOR SOUND DEADENING!!! + How to Remove

Suggest making this a sticky - DON'T USE PEEL AND SEAL for sound deadening!!. Read my story below. So about 2 years ago, I started sound deadening my doors and back wall in the double cab with Home Depot's Peel and Seal, and also another similar material from Lowes. I never did the floor or roof. Seamed like it was an ok idea - lots of 'people on the internet' saying there is no smell and that the stuff keeps well against the surface, and it was cheap! About 1/4 cost of normal sound deadening material. I did a great job of applying it too - looked ok and significantly deadened road noise as a result.

Well beginning last summer of 2016, I started getting smells, but I drive with the windows open, and the cabin would air out in less than a minute or so. Didn't address it. During the fall and winter, since temps are lower, there wasn't a smell. No headaches or sinus issues either btw.

This past March 17, my job started requiring more travel from me - so my truck sometimes remains parked in a wide open controlled lot in the sun for sometimes weeks on end. When i get back, even in lower temperatures, there would be a musky tar smell in the cabin. It would clear out in a few minutes with the windows cracked or the HVAC running. Still no headaches or sinus issues either, but started raising this problem on my priority list. The smell is worse than last summer, but it clears out rather fast.

Today, I finally removed the door panel and speaker to peek into door - lots of peel and seal material sliding downwards from gravity and hot temperature, and tar drippings in certain areas. WTF!!! Yep, I made a big mistake - learn from my mistake and don't ever use Peel and Seal for sound deadening!

Now for the remediation - I need to rip out my door panels, speakers, sub box, and amp rack probably for a few weeks while I remove the crap and clean the residue adhesive. Which means no stereo for a while. Thankfully - removing Peel and Seal isn't too bad and requires:

1. Heat Gun + manually peeling the material off and throwing it into the trash.
2. MINERAL SPIRITS sparingly sprayed onto the remaining brown residue surface from the Peel and Seal
3. MINERAL SPIRITS applied to a heavier duty rag or blue paper towel
4. With a light wipe, The adhesive residue effortlessly wipes off like magic! (This was the part I was extremely worried about)
5. After all the surfaces of an area are clean, use a clean rag to quickly clean it again with MINERAL SPIRITS and then Denatured Alcohol.

Then immediately apply a real sound deadener material. I'll probably be using raamat.

Do it right the first time - don't cheap out and use the right material!

 

Thanks for this mbrogz. Sorry you had to find out the hard way, but hopefully this will save someone the headache as I still see people using it.

On new stuff, do yourself a favor and read at least the last post in this thread. The entire thread is chock full of goodies, but it's summarized in the last post. If you can wait a bit, there's a test in progress of MLF, CCF and other decouplers. The guy doing it has the resources of Eminence as well as a few other solid minds in the hobby at his disposal so expectations are high.

 

also check out second skin, i moved to that after using raamat. seems to work much nicer.

 

It's included in the testing referenced above. It performs okay, but for the price there are better dampers.

 

man, that site is hard to read. for the price the second skin was better for me as i also didnt pay retail but dealer prices (sorry i dont sell it) so it still came out much cheaper. I used raamat and the Knu stuff in the past and i will say the knu was nicer then raamat, but you can usually find raamat for much cheaper with coupons

 

There are different kinds of "peel and seal" at HD and Lowes. Some contain asphalt, and some are purely butyl. Do you know which kind you used exactly?

 

Never knew of the differences when I was purchasing the stuff. I'm pretty sure it's asphalt based after removing some of it...lots of tar drippings/runs like I said. It's a f'ing mess is some areas.

 

You must be on mobile. It's impossible to use on mobile. I still use computers for such things.

 

No worries, not looking to buy 2nd skin. I don't care for the way the owner conducts business.

Ya, Knu Kolossus is good stuff. I'd personally use it or Sound Deadener Showdown for a damper.

 

what about NVX deadner? 90 mil, 40 sq ft for $100 (free shipping)

 

I've only read a little about it but IIRC it has heat tolerance and QC issues. There are many proven great performers out there - you should know by now this is a bad place to try & save a few bucks . You don't need full coverage either - as little as 25% will do it with a good damper and strategic placement.

 

if it doesn't indicate a use for automobile sound deadening, do not use it

a lot of adhesives and materials are toxic when they outgas, and vehicle temperatures in the sun will
make nearly anything outgas

toxic, mutagenic, cancerous...don't even think to install anything other than
that which is specifically designed for automobile sound deadening usage

 

I've had no issues with Noico

 

If your going to try cheap floor underlayment materials work well with some spray adhesive.

 

LOL, man I feel for you. It's funny you mention this because I used a small amount of this too in my doors and noticed the same thing when I took my door panels off the other week to install new speakers. The higher stuff had slid down from the heat. Thanks for the heads up on Mineral Spirits. I'll prolly go back in on a rainy day and clean that mess up.

 

@kgarrett11 how hot does it get where you live? I live in AZ and I just ordered some Noico 80 mil yesterday. How long have you had that in your Tacoma?

 

it can get over 120. Had it about a year, no issues.

 

Oh ok. Sounds similar to the climate here then. I guess I won't worry about it. Thanks!

 

We call it peel n leak in the waterproofing biz

 

Ive had peel and seal in .y truck for going on 5 years now and never had any problems with smell and my tuck has no shade. Its literally designed to be applied to a roof. You have any idea how hot shingles get in the middle of summer? Tou guys can push your favorite products but dont do it at the expense anothwrs because you did a bad job applying it.