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I’m an absolute novice to home renovation and need advice. I’ve just bought a house ca. ’50s vintage with vinyl (maybe vinyl-asbestos?) tiles glued directly onto the previously-painted hardwood floors in three bedrooms. The home inspector who looked at the house prior to purchase suggested the way to remove these and most of the adhesive would be to move a block of dry ice around on the tiles and then shatter them with a hammer and chip off. Has anyone tried this? Is it something a rank amateur can do, or does it require a professional? Will it remove most of the adhesive?
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Andy,
Never heard of the dry-ice routine. If you go that route, let me know if it works. Most times, I pour lacquer thinner onto the surface and let it soak in a little before using a long handled iron scraper( $10-$15 at hardware stores). Also, an assortment of different sized putty knives and paint scrapers do come in handy. Question...are you wanting to remove the tiles in order to restore the hardwood flooring? If so, consult with someone local in your phone book who is listed as a floor refinisher; maybe they can help. Also, try to remove one of your tiles (a chip cut out with a razor kinfe will do and take this to either a floor/carpet dealer or to a SHERWIN WILLIAMS paint store and have it analyzed to see if it is asbestos. If the answer is "yes", you may be better off having a professional remove it. If it is asbestos, and /or if you're not dead set on refinishing the hardwood underneath,you could opt to save yourself a lot of trouble and simply install 1/4 inch luan plywood overtop of the existing floor tiles and then install each room with a new floor covering of your choice.... such as ceramic tile; vinyl flooring, or even carpeting (wouldn't need the 1/4 ply if carpeting). If you want the look of a hardwood floor, you could even install a floating hardwood floor (PERGO, and BRUCE HARDWOODS manufacture some nice styles). Good luck and let us know what you decide.
*I've not tried but have read of others using the dry ice trick. Set it on a aluminum cookie sheet to slide around. And I believe it's not just whacking it - but chipping from the side.Kerosene is often used for disolving the mastic that's left.
*Bill, kerosene on a hardwood floor makes for a bad stink for a long time. My wife spilled a bucketful on ours in February, and we're still getting whiffs.Just naturally gassy, BB
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I'm an absolute novice to home renovation and need advice. I've just bought a house ca. '50s vintage with vinyl (maybe vinyl-asbestos?) tiles glued directly onto the previously-painted hardwood floors in three bedrooms. The home inspector who looked at the house prior to purchase suggested the way to remove these and most of the adhesive would be to move a block of dry ice around on the tiles and then shatter them with a hammer and chip off. Has anyone tried this? Is it something a rank amateur can do, or does it require a professional? Will it remove most of the adhesive?