Have a 100+ year old house. Looks like about 30 – 40 years ago someone put vinyl tiles over it with mastic or some thing similar (they then put carpet over the tile but that part was easy). Got the tiles pulled up, but there is still a lot of the adhesive on the wood. Should I scrape it all off before sanding, or sand it off and just try to keep the sanding even?
Thanks.
Replies
I just dealt with this situation last week. I hired someone to refinish my floors - he told me to pull up the tiles and leave the adhesive & he would deal with it. He scattered sawdust all over it, then hit it with his roughest sandpaper. He said he consumes a few extra sheets of paper in the process, but it took care of the glue easily - no scraping, no solvents. Good luck ... Bill.
I run into this every once in a while. Never heard of the saw dust method. Gotta try it though.
The basic problem is that the adhesive heats up and rather than scraping off, it just spreads and clogs the sanding belts. $$$. My method is to scrape off whatever I can by hand, then give-up and use rough belts/ paper (under 32grit) and walk fast with the machine. If you walk too slow, you'll get heat build-up. Walking fast won't take off much but with a number of passes you will make progress.
F
It's possible that the sawdust didn't really do anything except allow them to walk on it without losing the soles of their shoes ... who knows .... but you're right about the $$ ... they hit me with a slight up-charge (maybe $50 for the whole house) to cover the added cost. Bill.
Thanks to all for responses. Off to rent a floor sander.
don't forget to rent some sawdust too ....
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
Actually I have plenty now if anyone else needs it.
Took 3 hours to sand through the mastic and less than an hour to do the finish sanding afterwards.