# Coco fibre gorrila glue expanding foam help needed



## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Hi guys ill try keep it to the point, I'm mid way building my boa new viv 8ft long 3ft tall and I've covered the background completely in expanding foam now I'm having major problems sticking the coco fibre to it 

I 1st tried watered down Pva painted on then sticking the fibre down which all that happened is the fibre absorbed the glue

Now tonight I tried gorrila glue misting the back ground with water then smearing the glue about with my hands another light mist then pushing the fibre into it,

That's kind of worked but its only stuck well in the contour parts and the rounder sticky out parts it's just brushed off easily

Was thinking of the spray glue carpet fitters use? 


Any advice is very welcome

Atb john


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## Hampshire Colubrids (Jul 31, 2012)

you have to do it in small sections otherwise the glue starts to dry and the eco earth wont stick. try that next time and let me know how you got on


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Hi mate thanks for quick reply I've only covered about 2ftx 3ft tonight was doing roughly 12" squares at a time could I be putting it on too thin or does 12" squares sound too much at once?

Cheers
John


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## caddie (Dec 11, 2011)

I hve had the same problem, even only doing indivdual sections 2-3 cm chunks, any advice would be great


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## Hampshire Colubrids (Jul 31, 2012)

i would say 12" is fine. maybe put the glue on really thick and push the coco fibre in deep. i expect you have already tried that though. also dont spray water on, this usually make glue brittle. not too sure if water does the same thing to gorilla glue. how thick have you been applying it?


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

I'd say I been doing it fairly thin will try it thicker on a patch tomorrow I'm wondering if I should not push any of it or maybe put more coco fibre on there should be a video guide for this lol if I get it right ill make one for YouTube lol


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## Hampshire Colubrids (Jul 31, 2012)

is there not one on youtube already mate??


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

I would have used silicon to stick bone dry coir onto the background, although I'm not sure how well that would stand up to an adult boa.


Gorilla glue is usually used instead of expanding foam rather than on top of.


Use wet substrate on the gorilla glue and push it in well as it expands.


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Pictures might help. I think your problem is that the glue is settling into the dips and leaving the tips exposed, hence the substrate isn't sticking to it. My advice would be to spread the glue over a decent size chunk, give it a very light spray, leave for five mins or so, then spread damp substrate on it and press in firmly. Keep pressing as it expands, until it finishes after half an hour or so. Move onto the next section, and keep going. Then give it 24 hours, turn it onto its side and tip off all the excess. You'll most likely have a lot covered, with all the bulges sticking out, but where the dips were will have expanded outwards and you'll have "lips" all around the bulges. So now its time to start again, the "lips" should prevent the glue sliding way, so carry on as before, but just spreading the glue on the bulges. As it expands it should follow the contours of the bulges pretty well, and maintain the shape of the foam underneath.

You may need a couple of goes, but have patience and it'll work out.

Alternatively, sand down/cut back your bulges a bit.

Here's some of mine to show it's not impossible 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/909836-gorilla-glue-experiment.html

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/914379-no-rest-wicked.html

Hope this helps

Dave


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

can't comment on the other but for the curilla glue i think its a mixture of the above, not enough glue on the peaks, not enough moisture and the substreate is too dry in addition to not enough pressure. 

Soil will flake off if not enough pressure is applied or if its too dry. 

Basically do it again but use really damp soil, and apply constant pressure to it untill dry. if the gurilla glue expands without pressure when the soil is on, it will create air pockets and thus cause the soil to crumble. 

jay


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks a lot for all the tips guys just walked in from work and going to try round 3 in a min

Will let you all know how I get on later thanks agen all will get some pics up tonight too 

Atb john


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Some of my progress so far
























And a pic of the background after last nights 1st gorilla glue poor attempt lol


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

looking good, looking at the pics the reason for the soil flakage is due to the soil being too dry and not enough pressure when the glue was setting. 

Jay


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Cheers spikebrit just sat down for half hour but have re-done about half of that pic so far much wetter constantly putting pressure and I can tell a big difference just hope it stil looks and feels solid tomoro lol


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

kingjohn1966 said:


> Cheers spikebrit just sat down for half hour but have re-done about half of that pic so far much wetter constantly putting pressure and I can tell a big difference just hope it stil looks and feels solid tomoro lol


keeping the pressure on with and uneaved background is hard but worth it, just make sure everything is kept damp and loads of pressure and it will work. If the glue expands without pressure qwith will push the soil out. 

Jay


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Here's how it's looking tonight 









And a rough size guide to my 4hours 15min of hard graft lol









Hope it all stays on this time I could really see the glue seeping through as I put the pressure on so its the most confident I've felt out of the 3 attempts

Thanks for ur input guys will keep it updated hopefully can help someone


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

fingers crossed it does looks quite dry in that pick though so maybe more water. When i do mine it was nearly mud lol. Just to be on the safe side. 

Jay


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## Terrarium Supplies (May 12, 2012)

Jay is right, to gain the best results you first need to aggregate the glue. Like mud so it becomes very tacky and sludge like. Good luck K.John


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Cheers guys will try it very soaked tonight how long should I leave it before brushing down the loose bits and how long roughly til it's cured completely? Thanks for all the input so far


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Just got home from work and last nights efforts still looking good but still quite wet (can see bubbling foam when pushed on) is this normal? Havnt brushed the loose bits as it all feels very solid but wet 

But looking good


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Little update as promised think I'm getting the hang of it but it still feels damp but feels pretty solid so far I'm half way there

















Also just wondered how long before it goes rock solid or do I need to brush it all down or just leave it?

Cheers


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

kingjohn1966 said:


> Little update as promised think I'm getting the hang of it but it still feels damp but feels pretty solid so far I'm half way there
> image
> image
> 
> ...


Looking good dude! :no1: Personally (and this is just what works for me) I leave it, after a few days you'll see parts of it are drying out, and a few more days it'll all be dry, nthen just let the loose stuff fall off. Maybe give it a brush with a paintbrush or similar to take the excess off, but wouldn't worry too much about getting every speck off.

Dave


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

as above i just leave it for a few days to allow it to dry out and fully harden


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## kingjohn1966 (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks guys your words of wisdom have almost got me through this mega project ill be finished by tonight on the background then just need all the finishing touches I'm hoping by this time next week to show off the finished product,

Thanks for all the help 

Atb John


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