Posted 16 Minutes ago Link #1
Previous owners attached the side panel of our jacuzzi tub with velcro. It has worn off and new application will no longer hold. Seems there has to be a better way to attach this. Only thing I can think of is to pre-drill holes and attach to wood frame with screws, but it will look awful. Any suggestions? Please see pics for visual.

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why not remove the old velcro and reapply new velcro

For the number of times that you will need to get in there, just caulk it in place. The caulk can be cut if you ever need to remove the panel.

Tried that, didn't hold. I don't think it's the desired way to hold up a bathtub panel. Too heavy and not sufficient surface area to attach to. Hence, why it disengaged from their original velcro.

Caulk it how exactly, just the entire edge of the panel? They hold it in place with painters tape or something until it dries?

Exactly. There has to be a seam where the panel meets the tub. Caulk this seam, hold in place with tape until the caulk dries and then caulk under the tape.

Most silicon caulks will cure in a couple of hours. Caulk it, let it cure overnight and you are good.

Two suggestions:

1. You can also buy Velcro hook material and Velcro loop material in self adhesive one inch wide strips at any fabric shop. They sell it by the foot, yard or meter. If you don't like the idea of caulking the side panel on, just put Velcro all around that panel and it'll hold.

2. GE 1300 silicone caulk will cure in 30 minutes, and it's a much stronger adhesive than conventional "kitchen & bath" silicone caulks.

But, I wouldn't recommend using a silicone caulk of any kind here. In fact, unless that side panel is made of enameled steel, I wouldn't use a caulk at all. That's because if it's made of plastic or fiberglass, any tools you use to remove old caulk are going to mark up that side panel. And, any solvents you use to remove old caulk might dissolve the plastic that side panel is made of.

Never use silicone caulk unless you know how to remove it COMPLETELY. That's cuz nothing will stick well to silicone caulk, not even silicone caulk. That's a problem common to most silicone plastics. So, the first time you caulk that panel in place, it'll stick very well. But the first time you remove it, you won't be able to stick it back on with ANY kind of caulk, not even silicone caulk, unless and until you remove the old silicone caulk completely.

This is precisely the reason why so many newbies post about having problems replacing silicone caulk around their bathtubs cuz the new silicone caulk simply won't stick for some reason. That reason is that there's still a microscopically thin film of silicone caulk on both the tub and tile that hasn't been removed. And, that's one of the reasons why you also get real bad advice from supposed "experts" telling people to caulk when the tub is full of water to supposedly "pre-stress" the silicon caulk so it's compressed when the tub is empty.

If that side panel is enamel coated steel, then I'd recommend you use a caulk called "Kop-R-Lastic" instead.

http://ca.henry.com/sealants/t...sealant/kop-r-lastic

Kop-R-Lastic is now made by the Henry Company in the USA under licence from the Koppers Company of Australia. It is a synthetic rubber who's cohesive strength is even higher than it's adhesive strength. That means it sticks to itself better than it sticks to other materials. And the result of that is that when you want to remove it, you just get one end of it started and it pulls off from around a window or door just like a rubber rope.

http://users.usinternet.com/nk...s/Kop-R-Lastic-1.jpg

The above is a picture of me pulling Kop-R-Lastic off of Suite 3's dining room window. Note how cleanly the caulk pulls off. And, from the fact that the surface it's pulling off of is also clean, no rain water got around that caulk during the time it was on. I'm guessing that caulk was about 3 years old or so when I took that picture. I try using clear Kop-R-Lastic wherever possible because they colour caulks by adding tiny coloured particles (called "pigments") to them. Those pigments act like a filler material, making the caulk weaker and less adhesive than if you had no pigment in it. So, you get more bang for the buck with clear Kop-R-Lastic.

It'll cure strong enough to support weight in a day or two, but the cohesive strength keeps increasing for years afterwards. It will take a good year or two before you can pull it off like a rubber rope. Until then, you just have to remove it as you would any other caulk; scrape it off with a razor or whatever. Unlike silicone, Kop-R-Lastic will stick to itself as well as all other construction materials. It has more than enough adhesive strength to support the side of your Jacuzzi tub, but if it wuz me, I would support the side of that tub with small blocks of wood or something for the first 2 or three days. The adhesive strength of Kop-R-Lastic will prevent the side from falling away from the tub as it cures.

Also, you can store opened tubes of it in your freezer for years. It uses a chemical cure which happens only after the solvent in it evaporates, but at the cold temperatures in your freezer, only the caulk at the end of the nozzle will cure. So, when you're finished using it, you just squeeze a bit out of the nozzle and immediately place it in your freezer. When you're ready to use it again, you just pull the plug of cured caulk out of the end of the nozzle, squeeze the tube in your caulking gun really hard to get the ice cold and viscous caulk to flow out the nozzle again, and then just let it warm up. It expands as it warms up, so put the tube on a newspaper or something to catch the caulk as it comes oozing out, which will take most of a day.

Kop-R-Lastic is paintable, completely waterproof when cured and the cured caulk can be dissolved with acetone if you get it on something you can't pull it off of, like it gets mooshed into a fabric or carpet or something. It's my favourite caulk, and I won't use anything else on the exterior of my building.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,

there is a product called " dual lock " which is like a super velcro google it. I'd find a link, but it's thunering and I have to shut down the PC

O.K. thunderstorms over, I googled dual lock and found lots of sites to go to. I copied this paragraph from one
Where can I get this stuff?

Radio Shack stores carry it under the "Superlock" label: ask for part number 64-2363 (clear) or 64-2360 (black). Either one gets you a pack of four 1" x 3" strips for about three bucks. I found 3M Dual Lock in my local Target store's hardware (not stationery!) department for about the same price, also in packs of four 1" x 3" strips. A more economical route to buy is to buy it by the yard from an online reseller such as iTapestore, which offers all types of Dual Lock tape in a choice of widths

None of the velcro type of stuff worked. I tried superlock or dual lock, but it wasn't strong enough to handle the weight. Any other suggestions? The piece just feels like plastic - no steel from what I can tell.

I still say that caulking is the way to go but - Maybe some rare-earth magnets. About 8 pairs should hold a panel that size.

jaybee is right. caulk the door shut. thats the way the big boys do it. when you need in there. cut the caulk and recaulk when done
its clean and done
use latex caulk,
directions for caulking
apply caulk, with a damp sponge wipe caulk joint.rinse sponge repeat wipping,rinse sponge repeat wipping,rinse sponge repeat wipping
repeat untill it is a clean joint

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Frodo,