# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  Black Glue under Lino Floor Tiles - how to remove

## Meat Pie

Hi All, 
Getting stuck into renovating the apartment my parents own.
hasn't been touched in 15 years and is a bit like an old car, the more i get into it the more i uncover mini distasters where patches over patches over patches have been done without fixing the problem. 
Anyway, to get to the point. It has floor boards under the carpet and under the kitchen lino tiles.
They are nice from what i can see under the carpet. 
The lino tiles in the kitchen have been stuck down with a black glue of sorts. it looks like it has been painted on before the tiles were laid 15 years ago.
It's still sticky. 
How do i get this off without ruinging the boards that it is stuck to.
Is there a solvent of some sort. 
thanks for any advice. 
Cheers
MP

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## Dusty

Hi, the easiest way to remove any sort of glue from a timber floor is to sand it off with 24 grit sandpaper. To assist the 24 grit sandpaper I recommend that the glued section be sprayed with Kerosene to help nullify the stickiness of the glue and help the sandpaper go further.  HERE are some jobs I've done in the past with the same issue you're facing. This may help to inspire you - then again, it may freak you out..... :Biggrin:  
Good luck.

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## The Livos Lady

use an old belt sander if you can and when you finish, blow out under the covers. that glue gets into every nock and crany of any machine.

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## Deane

BE VERY CAREFUL!!! 
The "Blackjack" adhesive most probably contains asbestos, there is a strong chance the tiles may also.  
Sanding is the worst thing you could do, that is very bad advice.  :No:  
Have the tile and adhesive tested before you do anything else.

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## Oldsaltoz

Old Lino can leave a mix of glue and tar behind, I do hope this not what you are seeing, it will not be easy to remove and may well have stained the timber. 
I would do a small first to what the end result might look like. 
Good luck.   :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

For our lino glue I used Acetone and a scraper to remove the vast majority, and then the floor sander did the rest.  
It was dark, but I don't recall it being black glue as such, but Acetone will pretty much melt any glue. You could test with a nail polish remover that contains Acetone (not all of them do anymore)

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## Levey

Yes there will probably be asbestos in the black "tar paper" as we call it over here and the tiles aswell.
You can remove both by softening with a heat gun and using a scraper, sanding with kerosene will do it aswell but these days I prefer to spray water on the floor (not too much) then sand it off.
The water cools and lubricates the sand paper therefore helps to prevent the sand paper blocking.
Still use caution, asbestos is not nice :Smilie:

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