Tim Fischer wrote:
Hi all,

We're just about to start a small tile job (45 sq ft bathroom). Last night
we tore up the ugly vinyl tile floor. It came up pretty easy with a heat
gun. The concrete slab underneath is in great condtion, but is noticably
"tacky" from the vinyl tile adhesive. We're not talking globs of adhesive
or anything, in fact it isn't really visible at all, except for a little bit
of gloss here an there and some other discoloration of the concrete. But
nothing like big black or yellow/gold blobs of adhesive like I've seen
elsewhere.

So my question -- will my thinset stick to this, or should I attempt some
sort of chemical strip? We used some household cleaner (409) and a wire
brush, then mopped with a strong floor-cleaner solution, and that helped a
little, but it's still quite tacky when you feel it or walk on it.

I'm guessing the original floor is circa mid-80's if that matters.

Thanks much for your help -- I'd apprecate any replies as we hope to do some
work on it yet tonight.

-Tim

I remember speaking to the tiling 'Gurus' at Home Depot once and they
advised me against trying to remove the adhesive with a solvent,
rationalizing that residue would soak into the concrete and may cause
problems with the thinset in times of high humidity.

Having said that, let me point out that I am no tiling expert and not
trying to argue with our resident experts here.

Lewis.

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