I’m trying to find a way to remove glue from a 70 year old t & g cvg fir floor that had carpet laid down in the 60s. The carpet comes up and what’s left behind is the black rubber backing and the glue that held it down, the floor will be sanded and refinished. The idea of a scraper and hands and knees came to mind, however I dropped that idea after the crew started looking at the help wanted ads at lunch. The idea of course is to do as little damage to the floor as possible. Given a choice I would rather not use chemicals. Perhaps a floor sander with some sort of special pad or paper. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Under that glue, is the floor finished or unfinished? I guess I'm asking, is this a bare floor without any finish whatsoever? (Perhaps just wax or maybe not even that?)
Edited 11/23/2004 11:51 pm ET by jmo
It seems like, perhaps Lacquer? keeping in mind it's 70 years old and has not, best I can tell been refinished in all those years. In places with no rug/glue or traffic it's a bit slick not shiny or thick like shellac, dull but never the less, has/did have a finish. One of my guys spent the day with a sharp scraper and removed almost all the rubber from about 20% of the area to be done. What's left is a very dry, hard, white, but not crumbly crust, which was put down with a notched trowel. I'm thinking a square floor sander and a vacuum with whatever grit works best after the scraper. I'm open to any ideas that will make it safe and I guess "fun" is asking a bit much, however the floor as you probably know is one of many that really count in and old redo. Thanks for your help.
Well, if it doesn't seem like something that would be toxic when airborne, a sander would be pretty quick!
We did a larger area, the mastic left over from 50's tile, on a floor w/o a poly finish. Could have been lacquer (as yours is). We used a Speedheater and that stuff came up really quickly. (It is a heat plate that doesn't reach the temperatures of a heat gun. Best for flat surfaces and trim. We bought it when it was new in the US, and a lot cheaper, for use stripping an old wood boat and work on our house. Occasionally, you can find one on eBay. And you can rent 'em.)
This guy made his own. Unfortunately, the chassis makes use on a horizontal surface a little "hot" after about 20 minutes. But it would be an interesting project for those so inclined.
I don't think the expense would be worth that last 20%. But it's something to keep in mind for another project.
8" wide razor scraper with telescoping handle
carpenter in transition
oh, i guess you pretty much just said that diddnt you.. (If you give me credit for your idea next time i wont havto steal the credit like this in the future <J>)
I've used this somthing similar, but not egzactly the same, might work, might not, but cheap to try:
wall paper scraper with corners ground off so as not to dig into the wood. admittedly it does require being on hands and knees, but might be a fast way to go If it works.
Talk to your floor finisher. I agonized over linoleum adhesive on a floor once, using a 3" scraper and solvent. I gave up after hours of work only to watch the floor guy strip it all off in minutes with coarse sandpaper in his machine.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA