Installation
How to install Bodaq® interior film
Bodaq is installed dry and by hand: clean and degrease the substrate, cut the piece oversize, peel the liner progressively and squeegee from the centre outward so air escapes through the channels in the adhesive. Work between 12 and 38 °C, and expect the adhesive to reach full strength three to seven days after application.
Before anything else: the substrate
Film follows what is underneath it. At 0.2 mm, a proud screw head, a lifted laminate edge or a run in old paint will read straight through the finished surface. Preparation is the majority of the job and the part that separates a good install from an obvious one.
- Degrease. Silicone, polish and hand grease are the usual causes of edge lift. Clean and let it flash off fully.
- Make good. Fill, sand flat, and feather repairs well beyond the damage.
- Check porosity. Bare plaster and unsealed board need sealing first; the adhesive needs something to key to that is not going to come away with it.
- Remove hardware. Take off handles, strike plates and escutcheons rather than cutting around them — cut-arounds are where installs look homemade.
Conditions
| Application temperature | 12–38 °C (54–100 °F) |
|---|---|
| Too cold | Adhesive can fail to key and the film may swell; cutting at low temperature can split the film |
| Too hot | Film becomes slack and harder to place accurately |
| Adhesive cure | Full strength in 3–7 days |
| Storage | Indoors below 38 °C, out of sun and damp, used within a year |
Tools
Nothing proprietary: a felt-edged squeegee, a sharp blade with fresh snap-offs, a heat gun, a tape measure and a clean lint-free cloth. A knifeless tape is useful on long seams. The heat gun is for conforming to profiles and corners, not for stretching flat areas — heat used to force a bad fit will show later as the film relaxes.
Technique
- Cut oversize. Allow enough to wrap onto returns and edges. Where the film has to travel round a profile, orient the piece so the stretch runs across the roll — elongation at break is 220% across the width against 80% along the length.
- Position dry. Peel back a short length of liner, tack the top edge, and check alignment before committing. The channelled adhesive allows lifting and re-setting during placement.
- Squeegee from the centre out. Overlapping strokes, working air toward the edges so it escapes through the grid channels rather than being trapped.
- Warm the details. Corners, bullnoses and returns take gentle heat to conform, then get pressed down firmly along the edge.
- Trim and seal edges. Trim back cleanly, press all edges, and refit hardware.
- Leave it alone. Keep the surface off heavy duty for a few days while the bond builds.
Common mistakes
- Skipping degreasing — the single most common cause of edges lifting weeks later.
- Cutting on the substrate — scoring the panel underneath creates a line that shows through and a weak point for moisture.
- Over-stretching to cover — the film relaxes and the pattern distorts. Cut a bigger piece instead.
- Working cold — an install done below the temperature window can look perfect on the day and fail at the edges later.
- Ignoring grain direction across adjacent panels, so a run of doors reads as mismatched.
Who should install it
This is a trade skill rather than a proprietary system, so an experienced wrap or finishing crew can do it well. We are supply-only and can refer installers who work with the material regularly. If your own crew is picking it up, start on flat casework rather than on a curved reception front.