Tile Adhesive removal

[Motordoctor]

Hello all. Need a little advice with a small home project that is rapidly turning into a big project. In the basement we have a summer kitchen with a vinyl tile floor. It had been there so long the tiles were worn out. Pretty small area, about 50 sq ft. The rest of the basement is carpeted. So I decided to redo the tile with some new stick on tile. Peeled the old stuff up, scraped off the old glue and put down some primer recommended by the tile manufacturer. Stuck down the tiles, rolled them out and thought I was done. WRONG. The next day the edges were curling up. Used a metal level, laid it on the edges and stood on it for about 5 minutes per edge. Looked good, next day, edges curling up again. So I peeled the tile back up again, put another coat of the primer down, let it dry overnight and tried it again. Same result.

This time I tried sticking them on a piece of plywood as a test before committing to the whole project. What finally seems to work is putting down a coat of DAP original Contact cement and sticking the tiles to that. A friend suggested 3M 1357 contact cement AKA scotchweld but that's a little pricey. It would cost $54/qt shipped compared to the DAP @ $30/gallon.

Now for the question: I need to get that primer off the floor so I can put the contact cement onto the concrete. Any suggestions for getting it off? I put down some TEC adhesive remover and scrubbed it with a wire brush. Not really doing the job. The manufacturer of the primer suggested sandpaper. Any suggestions on that? Grit/disc grinder/orbital? I figured the sandpaper would just load up with the primer. There's not enough room to get a commercial floor sander in there so that's not an option. Thanks for your help.



Primer link http://www.tecspecialty.com/products/surface-preparation/primer/Multipurpose-Primer.html

 

[dadsEH]

Have you looked up the MSDS for the primer?

 

[EdT]

Why do you need to get it off? Sounds like the primer is stuck to the floor. Quick test should tell you if the contact cement will stick to the primer. Since its such a small area, it might be worth abandoning the self stick stuff and go with some ordinary VCT and mastic.

 

[Jim B]

Rent a Diamabrush adhesive removing disc and a floor machine. Works like a charm.

 

[Motordoctor]

I would love to use a floor machine but there's no room. I would be a little worried that I would get into the carpet which is next to the concrete. Part of the floor is only about 24 inches wide so no matter what, there's going to be some hand sanding going on.

 

[asianflava]

My house was a model so there was adhesive and stuff from when they had a office in the garage. I used a floor grinder with a diamond head. I'm sure you can get similar results with a hand held angle grinder and a disc.

 

[enrare]

I've run into a similar situation in a very small 3/4 bathroom in my basement. Concrete looks like it originally had been painted. It had those vinyl tiles down when I moved in and they started to peel within the first year. I tried the vinyl tile route twice and same results of them peeling (used flooring adhesive remover with floor scrappers, applied a primer as recommended, etc each time). Since the vinyl tiles did not work I decided to go with ceramic tiles, only problem is when I do the water test on the concrete to see if thinset will bond to the concrete the water just sits on top and does not soak in (maybe its from all the previous adhesives, etc from before). After some looking into the matter I came to the conclusion I needed either grind or shot-blast the concrete down to a new fresh surface. I did find certain Home Depot rental centers have a small electric concrete scarifier that's perfect for small jobs like this, I just need to find the time to do it.

 

[Motordoctor]

Wow that concrete scarifier is a little more aggressive than I need. Looked up a couple of youtube vids on them and that would really turn this job into an ordeal. It would get the glue off the floor though Right now I'm soaking the floor with some TSP overnight to see if that will loosen the primer so I can scape it off with a stainless wire brush. Here's a few pictures of what I'm working with......
I wouldn't mind sandblasting it except for the fact it's a finished basement with TV/Stereo/etc and the mess it would make would render it unlivable. Solve the tile problem though....

 

[Jim B]

Yep a Diamabush on a hand grinder would do the trick in no time. Of course you'll have to mask off the rest of the space, use a shop vac and a respirator but the floor would be clean in no time.

 

[n8n]

I bought a drum of adhesive remover from the paint section at Lowe's or HD... it worked well on my laundry room floor at my last place. I just left it bare concrete though and didn't attempt to retile it. I used a paint scraper to get the big chunks off and then followed that with a scrub brush and hot water. Plenty of ventilation was a MUST. I used old bath towels to dam up each area that I was working on so the solvent didn't run off into another area. A lot of work but was necessary to have an acceptable floor...

 

[Motordoctor]

Anybody ever use this product?
http://snapstone.com/
It's a snap together floating tile system. And the best part, it doesn't matter what **** is on the floor as long as it's reasonably level

 

[JR 42]

Anybody ever use this product?
http://snapstone.com/
It's a snap together floating tile system. And the best part, it doesn't matter what **** is on the floor as long as it's reasonably level

We sold a couple jobs worth of a similar product where I work, didn't hear any complaints. You'll be making a giant leap in price going from self-stick vinyl tile (not a reliable or durable product IMO) to floating porcelain tile.

You should look into a floating vinyl plank or tile floor- it has the installation advantages of the tile you linked (no need to clean subfloor to bare concrete, planks click together like modern laminate floors), but will certainly cost less than floating porcelain.

JR

 

[Motordoctor]

Actually I got a pretty decent price on it @ Lowes. It was selling for $2.32/sq ft. As long as that particular color was what you wanted

 

[Motordoctor]

This is what the tile looks like put down, haven't grouted it yet, still have to move the refrigerator out of the way so I can put one last tile in. Have to put down some tack strip and finish the carpet where it meets the tile...