Hey All,
Hope everyone’s having a good summer.
We’re taking a kitchen out of an old house, and are just finishing demo. Took out 3-4 layers of old lino flooring, and it looks like the final layer was put down on the original hardwood with an asphalt gum (or some petroleum/tar product).
We got the majority of it up, actually, but there are still plenty of patches where it just stuck too good.
Has anyone found a useful solvent for getting up petro products from wood floors? Want to salvage the old heart pine, if possible.
Thanks!
Brian
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HomeBase
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Brian Roberts, Manager
Replies
wd-40
Mineral spirits/paint thinner should work.....tried that?
cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
I know a guy that used gumout carburetor cleaner in the gallon cans. It worked well, but I suspect less volatile solvents would be better.
had customers pull it up w heat... one guy did it w wax paper, heat on it w clothes iron, scraper another w torch lightly, scraper probably has asbestos get it real clean or can cause contamination/ non-adhesion of poly when refinishing careful w solvents for later contamination
Ed, what makes you say it has asbestos? I actually thought it might be asbestos until I saw the asphalt impregnated material, and then suspected it might be something else. Are they commonly found together in your experience?
Thanks for the suggestions, all.
Best,
Brian
_____________________________HomeBase__________________________ LLC
Brian Roberts, Manager
Edited 8/17/2004 7:05 am ET by homebaseboston
asked abatement guy about it, floor involved was asbestos squares put down w the black adhesive said the old tar base stuff commonly had asbestos only way to know for sure is to test
I just had this problem last weekend. I tried everything. Stripper, denatured alcohol, stuff called adhesive remover, but what actually worked was elbow-grease and a razor scraper made for wallpaper removal. It took longer to try all of the solvents than to just scrape off the crud. Of course I was also sanding the floor so I wasn't to worried about gouging the wood a little.
Using a thinner will just make it sink deep into the wood. I'd recommend scraping.
OK. This is a whacky idea...
I used to use liquid nitrogen back in university for lab experiments. We'd play with it all the time and found that things frozen in it would get super brittle.
If you could dump some on the patches, maybe they'd flake right off with a scraper once frozen hard.
Don't ask me where to buy the stuff.
... I told you it was whacky.
Liquid nitrogen may be going a bit far, but I have heard of using dry ice--put it in a cake pan and leave it on the adhesive till it gets brittle, then scrape it off. I haven't tried it myself.
But wouldn't the floor be covered in a white fog cloud making it hard to see the adhesive? I've got to try that! Cool - really cool!
Make it look like a living floor...
what a concept...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
I'd wait till halloween evening to try the dry ice trick. Maybe have a kettle full of the dry ice setting on the floor with some black lights on.
Oh, wow, man, and have Edgar Winter playing "Frankenstein" in the background!
BTW, ain't you in jail yet!
Edited 8/17/2004 8:49 pm ET by Danno
I'm still out, and I'll stay out.
Can't see it... It ain't there...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Just curious... have you tried xylene?
Seems every time I have an adhesive or paint that I can't get off any other way... this stuff seems to do the trick. Shouldn't hurt the pine either, as I use it to clean wood before staining it. Of course.. I would try it in a small area before going too wild.
It can be picked up at Lowes, HD... or a paint supply store.
Be sure to ventilate the area well, and keep the smokers away... this stuff is EASY to light. It evaporates slowly... so don't be lured into a false sense of security. Don't mean to scare ya... it's not all that nasty ( but be aware that I also use it to do a real neat effect on oak... burning the grain to create a rustic effect... burns great and leaves very little residue).