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hello,
I’ve just removed 40 year old tiles from the basement floor and would like to remove all traces of the tile before I paint the floor. The surface is now smooth and the scrapper does not scrape off any of the residual glue which is firmly “stuck’ to the floor.
Is there a chemical that could dissolve the residual old glue, or make it easy to remove? Should I contemplate sanding/scrapping the floor to remove the black tar like substance which is hard?
Or simply paint of the floor with a proper basement floor paint. (basement floor does have radiant heating from the 1950s.)
David Pottinger
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I'm actually attempting do just that this weekend. I had old asbestos tiles that were removed at one point and left an ugly black adhesive residue. I have some chemicals from Menards that were recommended to me and am going to try it out this weekend.
I will report back...
*I believe there are tile adhesive removers out on the market... I never tried that as I came across it after I had fun with my project the "hard way". The adhesive and tile sound exactly the same as what I dealt with. My way... I wouldn't really recommend to anyone, but this is how I did it... turn off the pilot lights, get yourself a good respirator, make sure you have adequate ventilation, and find a paint store that sells cheap lacquer thinner. Get a cheap scrub brush, a CASE of paper towels, then have fun... Pour lacquer thinner on a small area (2x2 or so), scrub it, then quickly wipe up the now goopy adhesive with the paper towels. If you're too slow, the adhesive will reharden as the thinner evaporates. Again, this is a tedious and potentially explosive process, and you go through a ton of paper towels... which is why I'd recommend trying to a better way...FYI, Don't bother trying muriatic acid. It does nothing to the adhesive.
*Well, I just finished a test spot on my basement floor and it seems to work.The product is: Sentinel 747 Tile and Wood Adhesive Remover. I picked it up at Menards, though I bet any place would have it.It has the consistency and odor of turpentine. It claims to be biodegradable and low odor (though, of course, I'm sure the tile adhesive residue is NOT).To use it, you mop on the remover, let it set for 1/2 hour, and then scrape it off. Then, you reapply the remover, scrub it in with a brush, and then absorb the residue.It worked well on the test spot, removing pretty much all of the adhesive, though it does leave a bit of a color to the concrete. In my case, I kind of like tht patina of it and may just leave it as-is and stain over it. Otherwise, you could probably try a second application.It does recommend using another of their products as a clean-up application.The BIG problem is that it is just plain messy. It leaves this black sludge everywhere that you need to soak up with something. It recommends using kitty-litter, sawdust, or rags. I used newspapers for the test section, as it allows you to do a bit of scrubbing with it. I'd recommend getting some wader boots, rubber gloves, and empty the entire basement before tackling the job.In hindsight, I would have preferred that the previous owners just left the tile and then I could have tiled over it.
*David: Sawdust works great to clean up the gunk left behind. We have done this using solvent.(the non flamable fluid that is used in parts washers). We put some solvent in a garden sprayer (use low pressure) spray an area then cover with 1" - 2" of saw dust. Add enough slovent to wet the saw dust if you get to much on. Wait for 30 min to 1 hr. use broom sweep up & haul out. The wait time can vary depending the thickness of the adhesive residue. Some times a 2d. application is needed. Since we have done this I have seen an orange type of solvent used that has much less odor to it and the odor is much better than the stuff we used. Use the orange (citrus) if you can find it.Ron.
*i In hindsight, I would have preferred that the previous owners just left the tile and then I could have tiled over it. A half hour after I posted that, my wife informs me that her releative that does tile work mentioned that there is a newer thinset product that can actually be applied over older tile adhesive. I guess they've used it on a few jobs already and love it. Has anyone else heard/used this? I'll try and get more info and post it.Ron: Sawdust sounds like the best way to take care of this. Thanks for the tip. The citrus stuff also sounds a bit more pleasant to work with than the stuff I was using.
*Be careful about using products that have toulene or benezene, etc in them. They can cause liver and nerve damage and who knows what else.
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hello,
I've just removed 40 year old tiles from the basement floor and would like to remove all traces of the tile before I paint the floor. The surface is now smooth and the scrapper does not scrape off any of the residual glue which is firmly "stuck' to the floor.
Is there a chemical that could dissolve the residual old glue, or make it easy to remove? Should I contemplate sanding/scrapping the floor to remove the black tar like substance which is hard?
Or simply paint of the floor with a proper basement floor paint. (basement floor does have radiant heating from the 1950s.)
David Pottinger