I am laying ceramic tile in my kitchen and living room.. they are
connected. The kitchen had plywood flooring so I laid cement board as
a base. The living room has a concrete slab so I plan to lay the
tile directly onto the concrete. It presently has vinyl tile on it.
I removed some of it and see that it is going to have quite a bit of
residual glue. How do I get this glue off? I have all kinds of
solvent at home including "goof - off", turpentine. lacquer thinner,
and even, coleman lantern fuel. What are some reasonable ways to
proceed here.

Thanks, Al Kondo

Heat gun and scraper?


"Al Kondo" wrote in message
...
I am laying ceramic tile in my kitchen and living room.. they are
connected. The kitchen had plywood flooring so I laid cement board as
a base. The living room has a concrete slab so I plan to lay the
tile directly onto the concrete. It presently has vinyl tile on it.
I removed some of it and see that it is going to have quite a bit of
residual glue. How do I get this glue off? I have all kinds of
solvent at home including "goof - off", turpentine. lacquer thinner,
and even, coleman lantern fuel. What are some reasonable ways to
proceed here.

Thanks, Al Kondo

the best method I know about is a 4" floor scraper. This is an
oversized razor blade scraper, you can see one he
http://www.craintools.com/fs-tear-outtools.html
scroll down to the 350 and 360

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Al Kondo" wrote in message
...
I am laying ceramic tile in my kitchen and living room.. they are
connected. The kitchen had plywood flooring so I laid cement
board as
a base. The living room has a concrete slab so I plan to lay
the
tile directly onto the concrete. It presently has vinyl tile on
it.
I removed some of it and see that it is going to have quite a
bit of
residual glue. How do I get this glue off? I have all kinds
of
solvent at home including "goof - off", turpentine. lacquer
thinner,
and even, coleman lantern fuel. What are some reasonable ways
to
proceed here.

Thanks, Al Kondo

I would not use any solvents, they would only create
a residue that may react wrongly with the thinset.

Just use a razor blade scraper and get all possible
loose material off, then using a high quality
multi-purpose thinset, skimcoat the entire slab
with a flat trowel...a very thin coat that you press
into the floor as you trowel it on. Let that thin coat
dry 24 hours and you'll have a great floor to bond to
with the same high quality thinset.

You can identify quality thinset not only by the higher
price (usually $15 and up a bag), but the small print
on the back of the bag will say that it will adhere to
vinyl, existing ceramic tile, exterior grade plywood
etc. etc.

When I skimcoat questionable surfaces I use a
liquid additive made by Laticrete called "333".
Mixed with regular (NOT multi-purpose) thinset,
it makes a super strong coating, and an excellent
thinset.

Have fun. How were you planning on making the
transition from slab to wood flooring area? Those
two surfaces will surely settle and move separately.
Many grout manufacturers make a sanded caulking
that matches their grout colors. I would caulk the
joint at this transition with sanded caulking. It shrinks
alot when filling a large gap (1/4" typical joint), so you
may need to apply it again after the first application
shrinks.

thetiler

When I did my kitchen, I rented a power scraper from a local rental
company. Well worth it. Was able to do all the scraping in a very short
time compared to hours using a manual hand scraper.

Pat

"Al Kondo" wrote in message
...
I am laying ceramic tile in my kitchen and living room.. they are
connected. The kitchen had plywood flooring so I laid cement board as
a base. The living room has a concrete slab so I plan to lay the
tile directly onto the concrete. It presently has vinyl tile on it.
I removed some of it and see that it is going to have quite a bit of
residual glue. How do I get this glue off? I have all kinds of
solvent at home including "goof - off", turpentine. lacquer thinner,
and even, coleman lantern fuel. What are some reasonable ways to
proceed here.

Thanks, Al Kondo

Are you the poster questioning about the thickness difference between the 2
rooms?
If you are going to have a lot of trouble getting the old surface up than
why not just cover that with the same cement board you used in the kitchen?
Solve 2 problems at once. Your existing surface is obviously sound. The
cement board can be installed, with a 2 part thinset, right over the top of
the existing vinyl.