Whats THAT smell? Replacing the foam seal on our ice box.

This summer, I made a point of tackling smaller maintenance projects aboard.  It was clear that we needed to replace the seal on our "ice box" (it could be used as a freezer/fridge... but it is our dry goods storage right now... there is not refrigeration unit).

The existing foam that provided a cozy seal was rotten and starting to not smell so good when the ice box lid was open (GROSS).

 

Rotten, nasty ice box seal.

This is going to be an ongoing issue and I will be more proactive about replacing the seal in the future.  This project took me about 15 minutes and cost $6.  This extra ice box is located in the counter space between the sink and the stove so it is the obvious place for letting dishes dry.  No matter what I use (plastic dish wrack, etc), water finds its way into the foam seal. 

The process...

To make sure I had good access to the back of the seal, I removed the lid from the ice box by removing the brackets and screws that attached it. 

Lid - removed - old foam seal.

Next I removed the old foam.  Most of it came of easily, but I used a chisel to remove the adhesive/foam in a few places.

Foam seal removed.

To install the seal, I simply removed the adhesive from the foam and pressed it around the perimeter of the ice box leaving the seam in the back of the box where it cannot be seen.  I cut the foam strip to size after I installed the foam. 

Ice box lid reinstalled with new seal.

The new seal has been installed for about four months.  In the future I will try to get a more heavy duty refrigeration seal.  Unfortunately, over time, as the foam inevitably gets wet, it has compressed to the thickness of a normal piece of cardboard (I purchased the hardest and thickest foam at the hardware store).  This compression means that the ice box lid is not sitting flush with the counter (a little annoying). 

Overall, this was an easy, fast, and affordable project.  Go for it!