Removing glued carpet from concrete

[signcrafter]

I have buddy that asked me to help him in his basement. He has commercial type carpet glued down to the concrete. He wants to put down ceramic tile. So we have to pull up the carpet which I don't think will be too hard. But I'm not sure about the floor prep. What is the best way to remove all the glue on the concrete? I can rent a floor scrubber and buy whatever pads if that is the best way. But I've never dealt with this before. After some googling I've found most don't recommend using solvents for the carpet glue, just sanding pads. What tips do you guys have? What pads for floor scrubbers will work best? Any other tips or suggestions? Thanks

 

[Rock knocker]

Sand sand and sand. You'll have to experiment with the grit

 

[CNGsaves]

Had to do that once . . . . church was wanting new carpet and convinced each social group in a classroom that they should remove the old carpet.

Wow, were we hoodwinked !! That carpet was glued down so well it refused to come up, other than small pieces !!

We used long scrapers that were like giant putty knifes 5 ft long with solid steel blade on front. Jam the thing over and over till you cut loose the glue WITH the carpet, if at all possible.

Even with that effort, church said new installer said floor was too rough with leftover glue here and there. Finally, pro was brought in with floor sanders and prepped the surface properly.

I'd recommend the floor sanding machine if you still have glue residue. Rent a big machine and do it right.

 

[signcrafter]

I have a long scraper so will try that. I also have access to one of those bigger 15 or inch floor polisher/sanders. I've never used one but would think that would work good for getting the glue off? Probably want some 36 or so grit discs? I also have a milwaukee 9" grinder so could get some kind of grinding cup if that would work decent. But not sure if a wire cup or a diamond grinding cup or what would work? I also have a hammer drill if they make a chisel bit or something that would work good. I'd like to get whatever will work the best and don't mind spending a few dollars in order to make our life easier but each option is pretty expensive so hoping someone has done this before and can tell me what will work the best so I don't waste money on something that isn't going to work.

Anyone use an air floor scraper like this from harbor freight before, http://www.harborfreight.com/42-in-long-reach-air-scraper-69236.html? Seems like it gets decent reviews.

Would any solvents like acetone or something help desolve the glue? Or would that just make a mess?

 

[Rock knocker]

Been involved in commercial TI's as a Superintendent for many years. Tried all the solvents and fancy ideas. Just muscle power and a lot of sanding wheels

 

[Daves69]

Bean E Do mastic remover is what the USPS uses in their facilities. Will soften most glues to speed removal.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006NL1JA/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[mitusa]

I "got" to help my wife do this in her classroom. What a job! We used water and "Dawn" dishwashing soap. And a commercial sander with a paint removal pad. We got it all up and did the brown dye job. I won't be doing it again!

 

[Jinks]

If you don't know what the glue is I'd start with really hot water & a good scraper. That may be all it takes. I've removed carpet & vinyl adhesives that way. After that I'd move on to solvents, scrapers, & as a last resort sander/grinders.

 

[shaun oriold1]

I recently did a condo where the parquet floors were glued down. Since the glue was 20 years old, and really hard and brittle, my concrete grinder with PCD segments made quick work of it. It was super fast at about 1000 Sq feet an hour. Super quick.

If the glue is still soft you might have trouble with a sanding pads. IT will work, but you'll need to keep an eye on how gummed up they get. You might have to change them a bunch of times.

 

[signcrafter]

I recently did a condo where the parquet floors were glued down. Since the glue was 20 years old, and really hard and brittle, my concrete grinder with PCD segments made quick work of it. It was super fast at about 1000 Sq feet an hour. Super quick.

If the glue is still soft you might have trouble with a sanding pads. IT will work, but you'll need to keep an eye on how gummed up they get. You might have to change them a bunch of times.

What concrete grinder did you use and what cup for it? Will any of these 7" diamond cups work good on my milwaukee 7/9" grinder? Or a different cup?

 

[PugetDude]

I used a heated razor scraper to take some off a small area-worked great.

 

[signcrafter]

Will any of these diamond grinding cups work decent, http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...diamond+cup&rh=n:228013,k:dewalt+diamond+cup?

 

[tncatadjuster]

Speed melts glue unless it is very old and brittle. Best to use a slow speed buffer with a scraper attachment or the diamabrush removal tool.

Scrapaway.



http://www.acepoxy.com/acepoxy.com/Retail_Store.html

 

[shaun oriold1]

What concrete grinder did you use and what cup for it? Will any of these 7" diamond cups work good on my milwaukee 7/9" grinder? Or a different cup?

You want something like this.

http://www.diteq.com/Cup_Wheels3.html

It doesnt have traditional diamond bits. It uses little teeth to scrape the floor, but not down into the concrete. It goes really fast.

A traditional cup wheel will have tiny diamonds embedded into a a metal compound. Those cup wheels will clog up with gummy soft glue. You'll spend as much time cleaning the teeth off as you will grinding. -not ideal.

 

[signcrafter]

You want something like this.

http://www.diteq.com/Cup_Wheels3.html

It doesnt have traditional diamond bits. It uses little teeth to scrape the floor, but not down into the concrete. It goes really fast.

A traditional cup wheel will have tiny diamonds embedded into a a metal compound. Those cup wheels will clog up with gummy soft glue. You'll spend as much time cleaning the teeth off as you will grinding. -not ideal.

Thank you for the link but the page you linked to has 3 different styles of cups on it. Could you tell me the model number of the diamond cup that would be best?

 

[shaun oriold1]

Thank you for the link but the page you linked to has 3 different styles of cups on it. Could you tell me the model number of the diamond cup that would be best?

Oops. My bad. I only saw the first one, and stopped there! So the one you want is the first one.. If you look close you can see the teeth the disk has.

Shaun

 

[Oak]

Very simple. I had to do the same thing in my house. Go rent a shot blaster. I rented mine from Home Cheapo but it looks like SunBelt now rents them too. It will work awesome if your putting tile down because it will pull some of the concrete up but that will help the Thinset bite better.

There are some vids up on Youtube but it is basicly a grinder with a radial fan installed where the disc would go and steel shot is metered into it and the steel shot blasts the concrete. The cool thing is that the shot bounces off the concrete and a HEPA vac ***** most of the dust off and the heavy shot drops back in the hopper to be used again.

 

[shaun oriold1]

Very simple. I had to do the same thing in my house. Go rent a shot blaster. I rented mine from Home Cheapo but it looks like SunBelt now rents them too. It will work awesome if your putting tile down because it will pull some of the concrete up but that will help the Thinset bite better.

There are some vids up on Youtube but it is basicly a grinder with a radial fan installed where the disc would go and steel shot is metered into it and the steel shot blasts the concrete. The cool thing is that the shot bounces off the concrete and a HEPA vac ***** most of the dust off and the heavy shot drops back in the hopper to be used again.

As a professional decorative flooring contractor, I'd lean away from shotblastng for a couple of reasons. 1. Unless you get proper training, or have experience with one. You can do a lot of damage with one. Granted the thinset will give you a lot of room for error correction. 2. If the glue has any softness to it, much of the effectiveness of the steel shot will be absorbed into. Possibly taking longer to remove.

On bare concrete. Shotblasting is the best. Its super quick, and super effective. In fact, many epoxy manufacturers' warranty says the concrete has to be shot blasted for a claim - acid etch, and grinding dont suffice.

 

[dadsEH]

Scrape, sand , thinset, sand ....done.