Removing vinyl floor tile adhesive
 

Hi,

I'm thinking of replacing the horrible vinyl floor tiles in my kitchen
with quarry tiles. I don't think it would be too hard to get the
current tiles up but I'm concerned about the adhesive residue which
would remain. The underlying floor is concrete and the tiles have
been down since the house was built in 1990. The adhesive is
a thin browny type substance, so not bitumen.

So,

1. Presumably it's wise to get this adhesive up before putting
the new tiles and suitable adhesive down ?

2. If so then how should I go about the task - solvents, scraping.
hot air, steam ?

Cheers,

Andy.

Andy wrote:
Hi,

I'm thinking of replacing the horrible vinyl floor tiles in my kitchen
with quarry tiles. I don't think it would be too hard to get the
current tiles up but I'm concerned about the adhesive residue which
would remain. The underlying floor is concrete and the tiles have
been down since the house was built in 1990. The adhesive is
a thin browny type substance, so not bitumen.

So,

1. Presumably it's wise to get this adhesive up before putting
the new tiles and suitable adhesive down ?

2. If so then how should I go about the task - solvents, scraping.
hot air, steam ?

Cheers,

Andy.


I used on of those heavy duty scrapers with 4" blade.
Got through a packet of blades though

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 19:55:55 GMT, "Andy"
wrote:

1. Presumably it's wise to get this adhesive up before putting
the new tiles and suitable adhesive down ?

I've never done this (I'm just about to). But I've been told (by a
professional tiler) that using a tile adhesive that's OK for wooden
floors as well will be OK without scraping the old adhesive off, so
long as it's smooth and flat enough.

Normal tile adhesives are expecting a somewhat permeable substrate,
timber or this old adhesive are impermeable. I'm planning on using
Wickes "timber or concrete" adhesive (ready mixed, red on white tub)

I'd be interested in hearing any comments on this approach.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:26:28 +0000, in uk.d-i-y Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 19:55:55 GMT, "Andy"
wrote:

1. Presumably it's wise to get this adhesive up before putting
the new tiles and suitable adhesive down ?

I've never done this (I'm just about to). But I've been told (by a
professional tiler) that using a tile adhesive that's OK for wooden
floors as well will be OK without scraping the old adhesive off, so
long as it's smooth and flat enough.

Normal tile adhesives are expecting a somewhat permeable substrate,
timber or this old adhesive are impermeable. I'm planning on using
Wickes "timber or concrete" adhesive (ready mixed, red on white tub)

I'd be interested in hearing any comments on this approach.

When I pulled up some lino-tiles many years ago I was pleasantly
surprised to find the adhesive was water soluble. I ripped up the tiles
and gave the remaining goo a good sponging over with hot water and the
resulting goo was easily scraped off leaving clean boards.

Mind you, I would preferred to have discovered this before spending
hours scraping half of it off dry!!

Phil
The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
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"Phil Addison" wrote in message
...

When I pulled up some lino-tiles many years ago I was pleasantly
surprised to find the adhesive was water soluble. I ripped up the tiles
and gave the remaining goo a good sponging over with hot water and the
resulting goo was easily scraped off leaving clean boards.

Mind you, I would preferred to have discovered this before spending
hours scraping half of it off dry!!

Phil

I've taken up a sample of the adhesive and currently soaking it in
water to see if owt happens! Water soluble would be nice but not
sure if it would have been used in a kitchen environment originally!

Andy.

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 19:18:26 GMT, in uk.d-i-y "Andy"
wrote:


"Phil Addison" wrote in message
...

When I pulled up some lino-tiles many years ago I was pleasantly
surprised to find the adhesive was water soluble. I ripped up the tiles
and gave the remaining goo a good sponging over with hot water and the
resulting goo was easily scraped off leaving clean boards.

Mind you, I would preferred to have discovered this before spending
hours scraping half of it off dry!!

Phil

I've taken up a sample of the adhesive and currently soaking it in
water to see if owt happens! Water soluble would be nice but not
sure if it would have been used in a kitchen environment originally!

Mine were in the kitchen, but was circa 1970.

Phil
The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
The Google uk.d-i-y archive is at http://tinyurl.com/65kwq
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