trouble removing linoleum floor

[jeany3]

My husband and I recently tried removing our linoleum floor in the kitchen, the linoleum came up but the backing stayed on the concrete floor we tried scarping with a manual scarper and a electric and alot of it would not come up. Can someone give suggestions on how to get the backing up

[handyandy]

What are you going to replace it with? Perhaps it is easier to cover than to remove. Otherwise the only thing I know that works is elbow grease.

Anyone else?

Let us know what you find!

[shorty]

really hot,hot,water. let soak/completely saturate. it willsoften the old mastic.and aid in easier removal.

[mrfixit]

the adhesive used is most likely NOT water based...so if it does not work, try mineral spirit and a 3 or 4 inch scraper knife with a large handle. It is hard work...done many sq.ft. that way...

[Birddog484]

I am having the same problem and was told all the mastic has to be removed or it will stain the new vinyl. Is this true?

[SueK]

My house was built in the 70's and I started in the utility room to remove the linoleum, but found underneath old 12" tiles with the mastic under them, put on thick. My whole house is done that way. I used a chisel, hammer, scrapers, and anything I could find to remove it, with no such luck. Even the old tiles would hardly come up. I have been told that they rent a machine that removes this at the rental stores, but I have not checked. I just stopped, luckily I had just removed the linoleum in an inconspicous place. I was also told everything had to be removed right down to the concrete floor or the mastic would stain and make the new flooring uneven. I'm not so keen on using the chemicals unless I have to. Hope we find a solution.

[Bri]

My wife and I do it two different ways...

I wet the old backing with hot water and scrape off as much of the paper as I can. My wife skips this part.

Use a hot air gun on the remaining glue (and paper) with a putty knife. If you have it, use the utility knife tool that has like 9 uses. I forget exactly what it's called. But it has that rounded side for scraping the paint rollers, and it's stiffer than a normal putty knife and the edge is sharper. Just explain it to your hardware store and they'll know.

The way I do it, there's mostly only glue to scrape up. My wife uses the gun right on the backing without scraping the paper and it melts the glue right through it. It takes a little longer that way but then she doesn't have to mess with the water.

Either way, the hot air gun works.

We're using a 5000 watt gun was rented for $10/day (in Canada).

We're doing a big hallway that was glued only around the edges and by some doors. It's about 18 x 12 ft and it's taking a full day to do it.

[Annam32]

I am having ceramic tile installed in the area where linoleum was. Can I leave the paper, that's stuck to the concrete, in place & go over it with the ceramic adhesive? I have been trying to remove it with vinegar & hot water & only small pieces are coming off. Help!

Am

[dayindelft]

We got 2 crowbars and asbestos masks as housewarming gifts. They really came in handy when removing the asphault tile that covered our entire second floor! In some cases, a layer of plywood (secured with a thousand nails) and very strong adhesive with some thick backing were under the tile (and linoleum). For the adhesive, we used an orange-based solvent (you still need protective gloves), scrapers, and a lot of elbow grease. Get some epsom salts and knee pads (you'll need them!), but it's worth it.

Good luck!

[uh-oh]

i close on a house tuesday that was built in 1900. uh-oh. upstairs and down have beautiful hardwood floors. The kitchen has 1 layer of sheet linoleum over 1/2in. plywood that was nailed at least twice every foot! below the plywood is 12in. vinyl tile, and finally below this is some sort of black glue over the original heart pine flooring.
what should i use to remove the 12in. tiles and glue? Is this stuff likely to be toxic?


scared but excited[[?]?]

[uh-oh]

i close on a house tuesday that was built in 1900. uh-oh. upstairs and down have beautiful hardwood floors. The kitchen has 1 layer of sheet linoleum over 1/2in. plywood that was nailed at least twice every foot! below the plywood is 12in. vinyl tile, and finally below this is some sort of black glue over the original heart pine flooring.
what should i use to remove the 12in. tiles and glue? Is this stuff likely to be toxic?


scared but excited[[?]?]

[zeke700]

Okay, get this: I tried adhesive remover, paint stripper, a bit of oil, (with no luck at all) and then I read this posting. Boiling water removed the adhesive like a dream, and the awful cardboard stuck to it came up much easier. I also learned to be a bit more aggressive about scraping, as I was previously afraid to gouge the floor. I then tried the boiling water trick on some lino still attached to the floor, and it scraped up with the floor scraper much easier as well. Looks like this project will go much smoother, so I'm on to the next 1000 square feet. I even picked up some krud kutter that I haven't used yet but might mix with the water for some extra help. Thanks!

[jnowlin]

removing linoleum, cant tell whats underneath

I just acquired a condo in a building bilt in the 1920's. it was previously a printing warehouse that had noting but concrete floors. I was converted into apts in the 80s and not sure if I should be worried about asbestos or not?? Help, I am trying to remove linooleum flooring from my bathroom but when I pull a bit up to look underneath I cannot tell if there is tile or not, too dirty! My plan is to remove whatever is on top of the concrete. My goal is to use the concrete as my flooring. So I would also need to know how to make it habitable as well! Any suggestions?

[pushkins]

Almost anything built in the 20's runs a very good risk of having some sort of asbestos, especially in old vinyl tiles, make sure you always wear a mask when dealing with old building if you are unsure of the materials inside.

As for the concrete , once you have the tiles removed and as much of the glue removed as well (hard, backbreaking work) have a sandblaster come in and sandblast the concrete floors this will bring them back up to a decent enough finish to take staining or applying polyurethane.

[dkpbxman]

Before I re-floored the utility/boiler room, I had to take up the old worn tiles already there. The easiest way, I found, was to cover the tile with tin foil then heat the area with an ordinary iron. After a couple of minutes, I worked up a corner of the tile and then used a hard-edged "gum-scraper" to force up the rest of the tile.
As stated above, older construction often used asbestos laced vinyl-sheets and tiles- if that's the case, be careful. You might want to just leave the old vinyl there and just cover over it.