# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  HELP - How do you get old lino and dried glue off of floor boards?

## joy.rob53

I am in the process of renovating a1960's house with cypress pine floor boards.  The floor boards are in good condition and are pretty clean and I was feeling very lucky until I got to the KITCHEN! 
We managed to scrape about a third of the old lino off, but it left a yellowy dried layer of glue that was unscrapable.  It just doesn't come off.  Then to make matters worse the lino stopped coming off and when trying to scrape and/or chisel it off, the old lino came up with the glue and pieces of floor board attached. 
So not wanting to completely ruin the pine floor boards, I have downed tools and I am posting this thread. 
Now I googled and I have read alot about the rotten job ahead of me, but I don't know what to try.....  towels soaked in amonia, heat, vinegar and water, kerosene.......  nothing sounds very safe or effective and I am not even sure what you're supposed to do with these substance, eg dousing my floors in kero? 
Can anyone out there help me?  (With detailed instructions - you know, removing lino and glue for dummies!) 
Thank you!

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## Dusty

This is the best I can offer at short notice.  GLUE REMOVAL

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## joy.rob53

Wish you lived in Toowoomba!   
Failing that I still need some very detailed instructions on how to go about it or a great sander in Toowoomba...........   :Frown:  Still need help please    :No:

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## Batpig

Dear JoyRob, 
Digger's "Glue-Rid" will definitely do the job in the areas where the glue is exposed. It's a bit like a gel-type paint-stripper in concept, but it works far better on glue than paint-stripper. After you've scraped off the bulk of the adhesive with its help, you can then finish off whatever traces remain of the glue using Turps on a rag. You'll find it on the shelf at Bunnings where the solvents are all kept (ie. near the Paint section.)   
As for the areas where the Lino wont come up, I wonder if it's possible to get the shiny upper wearing-surface to delaminate from the softer, lower strata by just wetting it along it's torn edge with water. Perhaps if you leave a wet towel down along a torn edge for a couple of hours, it might help the stuff to soften from underneath. If you can get the hard shiny layer off the top, you might be able to scrape most of the remainder off the floor without pulling up too much timber. Then, when everything was dry again, you could hit the residual with Glue-Rid... 
Good Luck,
Batpig.

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## That Floor Guy

That Lino will come up with a bit of heat, as for the glue removal, the previous posts have pretty much covered the better options. 
Yep, crappy job. 
Good luck mate :2thumbsup:

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## TimDavis

Heat from a paint stripping gun or a hair dryer to lift the old vinyl (watch out for the fumes). Don't bother buggerizing around with chemicals and scrapers on the glue, hit it with 16 or 24 grit sandpaper on a floor sanding machine. Contact adhesive comes off relatively quickly, that is to say far more easily than scraping by hand.

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## joy.rob53

Thank you all so much!   Guess what I'll be doing this weekend..........  Will it be  :Smilie:   or   :Frown: ?!?

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## That Floor Guy

BAHH, I use a Flame torch!,  
but yeah hot air would be the go for a D.I.Y!   :Biggrin:

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## MBMartinborough

> BAHH, I use a Flame torch!,  
> but yeah hot air would be the go for a D.I.Y!

  
Be careful with the flame torch.

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## joy.rob53

:2thumbsup:     It's finally done and it actually looks great!  We ended up planing off the lino and then using Digger's "Glue-Rid" (it worked a bit better than the heat gun) and then sanded and sanded and sanded and finished with Treatex Hard Wax Oil in Satin.  We can't believe how good it came up in the end!  Though I have to say it was a bugger of a job.  Thank you for all your help!!!   :Biggrin:

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## cheltenhamreno

hello, i am removing glue from jarrah floor boards and am planning to get the floors sanded and polished. my flooring contractor told me to be carefull what chemicals i use as they may react with the water based urethane that finishes the flooring once sanded. he gave me no tips as to what to use but did mention that he would not be liable if it did happen. I was wondering if anyone knows will using GLUE RID cause me this problem. i just bought a tin and would like some help if i should use it or not. Thankyou

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