# Forum Home Renovation Tiling  How do you remove old glue under lino tiles??

## georgw

Does anybody have a clue how to remove the old glue and paper under lino floor tiles. I want to sand the floorboards underneath. Getting the tiles up was hard but getting rid of the glue and paper stuck to the wooden boards is a nightmare. Water works the best of everything i've tried but it takes forever to soak, dry, scrape, soak, dry, scrape etc..
cheers :Smilie:

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## scooter

George, I'm guessing you are using a floor scraper and pushing it?  
How would you go filing, stoning, and turning an agressive hook on the edge to be used in a dragging motion like a card or cabinet scraper? 
I've done this a couple of times with card scrapers to remove stuff that is too bulky for sandpaper. 
Good luck.........cheers.........Sean

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## bitingmidge

George, 
If you are using commercial floor sandin equipment....just sand through them.  You should be able to see any nails which will be a problem now, punch them off, then give the floor a light sand with a heavy grit.   
Check the nail situation and go again! 
Cheers, 
P

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## georgw

[QUOTE=scooter]George, I'm guessing you are using a floor scraper and pushing it?  
Um..Sean,  :Shock:  I think you are a bit more of a handyman than i am. I'm using a large paint scraper - is that the same thing. I've seen a kind of a scraper thing on a long handle maybe you mean that. But believe me this stuff doesnt budge for anything. 
How would you go filing, stoning, and turning an agressive hook on the edge to be used in a dragging motion like a card or cabinet scraper?  
Um again, not sure about the "filing, stoning and turning an aggressive hook on the edge" :confused: sorry can you clarify and have you ever struck this stuff yourself??
cheers and thanks
George :Smilie:

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## georgw

Thanks p aka biting midge - if that will work then it would be the best solution. Have you ever struck this gunk? I imagine it will use a lot of sanding paper but as you say, if i use a heavy duty grade first.... How do you use a drum sander lightly though?  :Smilie: ? tip toe while pushing perhaps? As you can see I'm a bit of an ingenue.
Cheers

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## bitingmidge

> Thanks - if that will work then it would be the best solution. Have you ever struck this gunk? I imagine it will use a lot of sanding paper but as you say, if i use a heavy duty grade first.... How do you use a drum sander lightly though? ? tip toe while pushing perhaps? As you can see I'm a bit of an ingenue.
> Cheers

  I have found that mostly there is little saving between hiring a machine and hiring a machine and experienced operator... but "we" have struck stuff like that on a few projects!    
Use a 40 grit, which is probably what you'd be using for a rough sand anyway, and move quickly  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin:  !!   You may use a bit more abrasive, but it'll be heaps quicker (I hope) :eek:. 
Good luck! 
P  :Cool:

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## wombat47

I wonder if warming it up with a heat gun on low heat might soften it enough to scrape off.

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## vsquizz

Try a McCulloch or a Stihl, that'll get rid of it :Biggrin:   
Go the paint stripper heat gun.  I took off all the glue under my vinyl tiles (on concrete) with the heat gun and (believe it or not) a sharpened spade, worked so well I was able to put the new lino straight down. 
Cheers

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## Dusty

Flood the floor with Kerosene. This nullifies the glue and stops it from being sticky. Either spray it on, or pour it on and spread it with a broom. 
Next, sand the floor using 24 grit sandpaper.  Go directly across the boards, this will remove the most glue.  
Once you have gotten off a lot of the glue and start getting through to the timber continue to spray Kero but now sand the floor in a 45 degree angle (from corner to corner) this will ensure that the boards end up flat(ish) as you remove the final remains of the glue and lino paper. 
With the edges you'll have to apply the same principles: Kerosene--Edging machine--24 grit paper. 
Get a few beers ready for when your finished-'cause this is a prick of a job. 
Good luck
Cheers.  :Smilie:

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## antman

> Flood the floor with Kerosene. This nullifies the glue and stops it from being sticky. Either spray it on, or pour it on and spread it with a broom.

  Struth Dusty,
I thought you were going to say flood floor and throw match which I thought was a little extreme!  :Biggrin:   
We just had cork tiles lifted professionally (and in my opinion well worth the $200!) and they used a machine that had what looked like a rotating chisel blade that vibrated like mad. (That would be the technical description!) Talking to the guys that did the work they said they use it to remove lino so that floor boards can be sanded. Most carpet layers have one. 
You could follow it up but I'd probably go with what Dusty had to say, it sounds like he has been there before!   :Biggrin:   
Cheers,
Anthony

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## georgw

> Flood the floor with Kerosene. This nullifies the glue and stops it from being sticky. Either spray it on, or pour it on and spread it with a broom.

  Dusty - I tried the kero first and it works brilliantly!!  :Smilie:   :Smilie:  Thanks. I just poured it on and left it overnight. It works pretty quickly though- Pretty much turns the evil hardened stuff soft enough to scrape off easily. The sharpened spade might even work better than the paint scraper, vsquizz. Havent tried the heat gun but now that i've poured the kero I might leave that option out  :Biggrin:  Only one foreseeable problem and that is the kero seems to soak into the boards and turn them dark but the sanding might get that off and it may dry out. I can't believe it was that simple. i'd been chipping away at this stuff in one corner of the room for weeks! This is a great forum.
Cheers guys

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## Eastie

Just a little something to be mindful of - a lot of old lino tiles were backed with asbestos - the good part is that it takes a fair bit of effort to make the fibres escape and thus become harmful.  As you have experienced some of the glues are water soluble, other glues like the black mastic stuff are not and need petroleum to break them down.   
It certainly does pay to remove as much as possible before sanding, especially if patches of the lino backing pulled away and remained glued to the floor when the tiles were lifted.

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## georgw

> Just a little something to be mindful of - a lot of old lino tiles were backed with asbestos - the good part is that it takes a fair bit of effort to make the fibres escape and thus become harmful. .

  :eek: ****!! (i hope that's acceptable here) How does one know if there is asbestos or not?? What would it look like? There was a backing of a sort of stringy type material in an open square weave, like hession bagging. Too late now, i suppose, if there was asbestos, as the tiles in one room have been taken up already. They look like they were laid in the 50s too.
Thanks for the tip Eastie.

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## capedcrusader

> :eek: ****!! (i hope that's acceptable here) How does one know if there is asbestos or not?? What would it look like? There was a backing of a sort of stringy type material in an open square weave, like hession bagging. Too late now, i suppose, if there was asbestos, as the tiles in one room have been taken up already. They look like they were laid in the 50s too.
> Thanks for the tip Eastie.

  Im not sure about this but I had some 30's tiles which had a backing which had a disturbing "fibrous mineral" look to them but you could try the flame thrower of death test on them and if the backing doesnt seem the slightest bit singed then its probably fair to conclude theyre asbestos.

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## Eastie

George, sorry for the delay in getting back.   
The (_good_) thing about asbestos backed vinyl floor tiles from my experiences on jobs removing them is they are, comparatively, one of the lower health risk products.  Don't break the tiles up too much, mop up after you're finished (dispose of the mop/mop pad) and wet wipe window sills etc, keep the kids out of the house and others away, don't sand the mastic/glue if traces of the backing are present, etc.  It is wrong for me to compare like this but I will for your sake: removing tiles is low risk, removing ac sheet would be a high risk (in my opinion, based on working with the stuff locally and seeing first hand numerous airborne fibre monitoring results during both tasks). 
As for clothing and protective equipment use P2 filters on a half face respirator (or disposable - not a good option in my opinion), disposable coveralls and disposable gloves.  Dispose of the clothing immediately after use and have a shower.   All this is in the following document, which is a good reference for the home owner:  http://www.health.vic.gov.au/environ...s_home2003.pdf 
Best wishes,
Mark

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## journeyman Mick

I've seen asbestos backed floor tiles removed wet in order to minimise risk. The contractor dammed the doorways and flooded the floor with about 50mm of water. This was in a school, I don't know if this is standard practice in Qld or if it was specified because it was a school. 
Mick

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