I’ll be installing a vinyl floor in a 12 x 14’kitchen that had vinyl asbestos tile on it. The tile was so old that most of it could be just picked up or popped loose with little effort.
Underneath the tile was a black tarpaper like substance that wasn’t particularly sticky until my heat gun hit it. The house was built in the 50’s. Underneath the “tarpaper” is hardwood, then 1×6 subfloor. The hardwood looks to be in too bad a shape to restore and besides I don’t have a clue on how to get that black stuff up.
I’m going to staple down Accuply before installing the new vinyl. My concern is that even though it’s stapled every 4″ or so, there might be some “popping” sounds when you walk on it due to the semi sticky stuff under it.
Am I just being too paranoid or should I spread out some type of flooring adhesive first before installing the Accuply? The house is for resale but I don’t want to leave a potential problem for the new homeowner.
Also, is there any good way to get that “tarpaper” off the hardwood? It’s nearly impossible to scrape up and a heat gun makes it worse. That would eliminate the “popping” concern I have.
Replies
I'm not sure how to get the tarpaper off the hardwood; I guess I would take up the hardwood too and replace it with plywood. I wouldn't want to risk having to do it over because of some little sound that drives you nuts!
Edit: Another post made me think of this--possibly you could just put a layer of rosin paper over the sticky tarpaper to sort of isolate the tarpaper from the underlayment. Then things would slide more than stick and there wouldn't be annoying sounds. Maybe others will have a better answer. I just don't think glue would work--may not be compatable with the tar in the tarpaper.
Edited 3/30/2005 11:10 am ET by Danno
I'd love to get that tarpaper up. I read one post where someone used dry ice in a similar situation. Supposedly it froze the stuff so it cracked right off the wood. Sound a little far fetched but maybe I'll try it.
YOU CAN GLUE DOWN THE UL. THE GLUE MIGHT HELP EVEN OUT THE TAR PAPER THICKNESS. SHOULD ALSO KEEP FLOOR FROM MOVING. YOU MIGHT CHECK ON SOME OTHER UNDERLAYENTS OTHER THAN PLYWOOD THAT ARE MORE DIMENSIONALLY STABLE AND WON'T MOVE AS MUCH AS WOODS. FIBEROCK IS ONE BRAND WHICH HAS REPLACED WOOD UNDERLAYMENTS. GLUE OR THINSET MORTAR SHOULD ALWAYS BE USED UNDER TILE, WON'T HURT UNDER TILE OR LINO EITHER.
Francios,Please turn off the all caps in your posts. Posting in all caps is considered shouting, and we are far too civilized here at Breaktime for that sort of thing, doncha know.Politely, Bill
Sorry for the Faux pau
How thick is Fiberock? I think Accuply is only about 3/16 to 1/4. I like to minimize build-up as much as possible.
Edited 3/31/2005 5:43 am ET by jdarylh1
1/4 " same as plywwoods