# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  How can I clean a bitumen based glue from a timber floor?

## jammostore

I have just removed vinyl tiles which had been glued to a timber floor in the 1950's.  The hard wood is in great nic and I would like to polish the boards, but all of the glue didn't come off.  Some is dry like paper and just peels off, whilst that remaining is like black sticky bitumen.  There is a fair bit of it, I tried a heat gun but that didn't work? Any ideas please?

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## ringtail

Try a scraper. A professional one from a proper paint shop that takes a blade like a chisel ( sort of). They are pulled along the timber not pushed. A scraped finish is one of the finest you can get but its also great for removing crap too. Worth a try. I wouldn't be heating it or trying to dissolve it as it may just leech into the timber then you're screwed. Maybe give a floor sander a ring too

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## Micky013

Last resort would be to dust the floor in putty powder or flour and sand it off. Not fun and you will need to clean machine regularly but sometimes its the quickest, most practical solution.

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## METRIX

Unfortunately a scraper will not get this glue off, I have removed this black stuff many times. 
Be careful, some of the old bitumen glues contaned asbestos, the only way to get it off is with heat, and I would not suggest a hot air gun as this will heat up and cause fumes. 
The safest way it to use hot water, if there is nothing under the floor (ie another story) otherwise water will damage the ceiling downstairs, if all is good then boil the kettle and tip it onto a small area, then scrape it off with a regular heavy duty paint type scraper. 
It cools down VERY quickly so you have to scrape it within a few seconds, and be very careful not to burn yourself, depending on how much yo have to do you might have to boil the kettle a lot, this is a long and tedious job to do. 
DO NOT sand it or Heat gun it, this is very dangerous for the duct and fumes, plus the bitumen will clog the sandpaper almost instantly anyway.
Try not to gouge the boards when removing it, the boards will polish up as new when your complete. 
Below is one we did a while ago, during and after.

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## Uncle Bob

Wow Metrix, that's very nice. I gotta say, even that pine looks the part in that place.

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## METRIX

Yeah it came up nice 
The lino tiles were down for around 50 years, and had been attempted removal with a scraper at some stage (unsuccessful) then it was self levelled in the areas they damaged, and covered with masonite and cork. 
After removing all that crap the floors came up like new, amazing how resiliant timer can be after all that time.

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## JB1

Even though I'm not a fan of Pine, it has come up amazingly well. 
Reasons like be able to refinish timber over and over is the reason I spent more on solid hardwood flooring (spotted gum). 
Engineered is a little cheaper but won't last as long. 
I shudder at the thought of using laminate or vinyl in my own home.  
Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

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## Micky013

That floor looks great - dont mind the look of cypress pine. 
I have never heard of the hot water technique - have to give it a go. I did hear of using kero but thats rubbish and it stinks. 
We have on many occasions sanded it off - maybe not recommended but when a scraper fails ... oh well. 
Good luck!

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## ringtail

Love my cypress floors. That floor looks tops Metrix

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## Mikeyday

Has anyone tried using a steam mop or small steam cleaner to soften it while scraping it off?
Not as hot as a hot air gun so maybe less fumes, but perhaps less water run off than the jug.
just a thought.

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## METRIX

Melting point of the bitumen base is around 120 deg, steam mop probably won't provide enough continuous heat to successfully soften it. 
The glue will suck the heat out of the boiling water in about 5 seconds after stopping applying but steam mop could be worth a try, although you may damage the mop with bits of glue coming off everywhere..

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## ChocDog

I know its OT, but that floor looks awesome. So thats cyprus pine is it?

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## METRIX

Yes, that is Cypress Pine, been under lino etc for about 60 years.

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## Larry McCully

Best way i do it it is with about 5 lt Minerial Turps in a spray bottle. Go buy a cheap 100mm angle grinder with the strongest wire cup brush you can find. The harder wire the better. Dont use any soft wire cup brushes. It needs to be very stiff wire. Spray on in a small location 300mm sq, then alow it to soak for about 30 secomds spray again , then grind of with the wire brush on the angle grinder. It takes awile, but i found its the quickest method, and it removes 99%.Also it has to be a cup brush, not a wire wheel.

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## METRIX

IMO the Hot water is the safest way of removing this glue, as you can get it off in larger pieces, and the water will stop anything becoming airborne rather than disturbing it and creating small pieces, because you don't know what is in it unless you get it tested first. 
See the section on Bitumes glues for lino tiles.  Asbestos in thermoplastic floor tiles > the details

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## ringtail

crapper of a job no matter what method is employed.

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## Larry McCully

Hnmmm, im not a big fan of putting water anywhere near the timber floor. I personally would not use water. It is to dangerious around timber flooring. The turps and the bitumious adhesive are both petrolium based. The turps is eco safe, wont damage the boards and breaks down the adhesive quickly.

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## METRIX

If you are only putting the water on the boards for a short period I don't think this presents a problem, as soon as the glue is off, we use a sponge to soak up any excess water, so it only touches the wood for about 20 seconds.
 We have always done it this way and never had any water damaged boards, I would say they would have to very delicate boards to be damaged by a one off application of water, after removing we let the boards dry out for a few weeks to ensure anything evaporates. 
As you can see for the pictures posted above there was no damage to these boards from the method we use, the only water damaged boards were from a leaking dishwasher which had been leaking for years and even then it was barely noticeable once sanded.
 Personally I would not like to use Turps, because of the amount of VOC that would be emitted during removal of the glue, and the smell will linger for quite some time after removal, not pleasant.

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## TJM

Just after I blew a belt sander trying to get the same sort of stuff off, an "old-timer" suggested that I used coke (as in coca-cola) to get it off. It was too late for this job but I have another 3 rooms to do. Its worth a try.

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## diydude

I've just finished my kitchen floor, it's a 1960s timber floor with 1970s glue I guess, after I peeled off the vinyl tiles, the glue was left on the floor, sticky and nasty. What I did was using a drum sander, with the very rough 24 sand paper, then 100, and 240 for finish. (maybe not enough, should go with 24, 60, 100 ... 240, but consider the cost)
10 squar meters took me 4 pieces of 24, 3 pieces of 100 and few 240, two days of really hard work, I'm satisfied with the finish.

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## JB1

A couple of years ago now. 
I poured turps on the glue after removing the 50/60s vinyl tiles (the vinyl tiles was covered by lino).  
Scrapped  off the glue after leaving the turps soak in for 5 minutes with a 100mm  scrapper. I had about 25sqm to do, not a pleasant job.  
I should  have left the floor sanders remove it with their drum sander, but  needed to get it semi even as I wanted to install the kitchen before  polishing the floor.  
You can see faint black outlines of the vinyl tiles, but turned out very well.     
Timber is original Tassie Oak.

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