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Ripped up the carpet and found this nasty adhesive beneath. What is the best method for safe removal?
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How can I remove this nasty adhesive?
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I'd see if either water or mineral spirits dissolves that glue. If not, lacquer thinner probably will.
I'd use a cheap wide paint brush to brush to paint that adhesive with lacquer thinner and immediately cover with wax paper and use some boards or sticks to hold the edges of the wax paper down. The wax paper will prevent the lacquer thinner from evaporating while it dissolves the glue. Then, slowly pull the wax paper back while scraping the glue off the tiles with a putty knife.
Obviously, lacquer thinner is both volatile and flammable. Use plenty of ventilation to get the fumes outdoors, and please don't smoke while doing this kind of work. Take a break outdoors in the fresh air if you start day dreaming a bit too much.
Maybe put a bit of lacquer thinner on those tiles just to ensure it doesn't dissolve the tile first.
Alternatively, take the tiles off the floor. Those kind of tiles are called "asphalt tiles" and they probably contain asbestos. Most likely the adhesive holding those tiles down contains asbestos too.
Asbestos is a three sided coin. It's one of the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust, so, depending on where you live, it's hard to avoid exposure to asbestos if you simply go outside. Basically, the entire state of California is covered with an asbestos bearing rock called "Serpentine", so standing downwind of any excavating activity in California will expose you to asbestos. The parks around the City of San Fransisco in California were measured to have an airborne asbestos count 50 times higher than would be allowed by the OSHA in a workplace without requiring the employer to provide his employees with protective breathing apparatus. That's because the roads in these parks were made out of gravel, and the gravel was made out of Serpentine rock. So, as cars drove over those roads and ground the rocks together, huge clouds of airborne asbestos fibers bellowed into the air behind the cars. Nowadays, California state law has drastically reduced the amount of Serpentine rock that can be used in the gravel for making gravel roads.
And yet, people in California aren't all dying of mesothelioma (the asbestos related form of lung cancer). That's because we're all different, and some of us are more susceptible to the health affects of such things as lead, asbestos, black mold, benzene and other chemicals, than others. Someone can smoke his whole life and die of a heart attack when he's 90. Someone else can smoke and die of lung cancer when he's 37. Put asbestos in the same bag as smoking cigarettes.
Generally, people with limited exposure to asbestos (like DIY'ers) don't suffer any health effects from relatively short exposures to asbestos. Where people get mesothelioma is where they've been working in asbestos related industries for decades. It's like cigarettes in that respect. Someone who smokes for a decade, and then quits can have his lungs recover completely within 5 to 10 years after quitting. After that, they are no more likely to get lung cancer than a non-smoker. Most people need continuous exposure to cigarette smoke (even second hand smoke) for multiple decades to contract lung cancer from smoking.
I'd use a cheap wide paint brush to brush to paint that adhesive with lacquer thinner and immediately cover with wax paper and use some boards or sticks to hold the edges of the wax paper down. The wax paper will prevent the lacquer thinner from evaporating while it dissolves the glue. Then, slowly pull the wax paper back while scraping the glue off the tiles with a putty knife.
Obviously, lacquer thinner is both volatile and flammable. Use plenty of ventilation to get the fumes outdoors, and please don't smoke while doing this kind of work. Take a break outdoors in the fresh air if you start day dreaming a bit too much.
Maybe put a bit of lacquer thinner on those tiles just to ensure it doesn't dissolve the tile first.
Alternatively, take the tiles off the floor. Those kind of tiles are called "asphalt tiles" and they probably contain asbestos. Most likely the adhesive holding those tiles down contains asbestos too.
Asbestos is a three sided coin. It's one of the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust, so, depending on where you live, it's hard to avoid exposure to asbestos if you simply go outside. Basically, the entire state of California is covered with an asbestos bearing rock called "Serpentine", so standing downwind of any excavating activity in California will expose you to asbestos. The parks around the City of San Fransisco in California were measured to have an airborne asbestos count 50 times higher than would be allowed by the OSHA in a workplace without requiring the employer to provide his employees with protective breathing apparatus. That's because the roads in these parks were made out of gravel, and the gravel was made out of Serpentine rock. So, as cars drove over those roads and ground the rocks together, huge clouds of airborne asbestos fibers bellowed into the air behind the cars. Nowadays, California state law has drastically reduced the amount of Serpentine rock that can be used in the gravel for making gravel roads.
And yet, people in California aren't all dying of mesothelioma (the asbestos related form of lung cancer). That's because we're all different, and some of us are more susceptible to the health affects of such things as lead, asbestos, black mold, benzene and other chemicals, than others. Someone can smoke his whole life and die of a heart attack when he's 90. Someone else can smoke and die of lung cancer when he's 37. Put asbestos in the same bag as smoking cigarettes.
Generally, people with limited exposure to asbestos (like DIY'ers) don't suffer any health effects from relatively short exposures to asbestos. Where people get mesothelioma is where they've been working in asbestos related industries for decades. It's like cigarettes in that respect. Someone who smokes for a decade, and then quits can have his lungs recover completely within 5 to 10 years after quitting. After that, they are no more likely to get lung cancer than a non-smoker. Most people need continuous exposure to cigarette smoke (even second hand smoke) for multiple decades to contract lung cancer from smoking.
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That is excellent to know in regards to its effects on health. I knew from when I had my home inspected that those tiles contain asbestos when they are deconstructed. I will try your method, thank you.
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I just went through this on a recent job. The tiles popped off easily enough leaving the black mastic behind. After trying several things like Crud cutter, all it did was turn the floor into a sticky mess. After much searching and reading, I came across a product called Bean-E-Doo. It's a soy based liquid that dissolves the black mastic and makes it easily removable. I poured small amounts on the floor working from the furthest point in to the exit of the room. I used an old three inch paint brush to spread it over the floor, leaving it on pretty wet. Following the instructions, you place a thin sheet of plastic over it to keep it from drying out. The thin plastic throwaway dropcloths work fine. Leave it sit for several hours, longer the better. Buy a six pack of those blue shop towels that look like heavy duty paper towels. Take up the plastic and use a putty knife (4-6") to scrape the main amount of goo off the floor. Wipe the floor with the the blue towel and throw away. You'll get one swipe per towel, so have a trash can behind you with a garbage bag liner in it. The floor will wipe pretty clean. Any small amounts of residue left can be removed with a second spot application of the BeanEdoo. It's a somewhat messy job, so wear old clothes and throwaway gloves. The BeanEdoo has hardly any odor, doesn't hurt your skin, isn't flammable and is very safe to use. I got mine on Amazon, about $44/gallon.
Mike Hawkins:smile:
Mike Hawkins:smile:
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What are you putting down next? For some flooring, you don't want to use chemicals.
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Laminate wood flooring. Do I have to remove this adhesive if a subfloor is going over it?
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No. If this is a wood subfloor, just cover it with underlayment.
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That's a first-rate suggestion, and exactly what I'd do, too.
SoyGel worked for me
I had a similar situation, however in my case the mastic was put on top of vintage tiles, then at some point was just painted over. My goal was to remove the mastic and restore the cool old tiles buried beneath. I used SoyGel and it worked very well (SoyGel is made by Franmar which also makes Beenie-doo).
Soy gel is exactly what it sounds like, a gel so it was easy to manage (Beenie-doo has the consistency of vegetable oil). I just applied it, let is set for a few hours then used a floor scraper to scoop up the muddy/jelly-like gunk.
The stuff on my tiles were laid on pretty thick so it took a couple of applications. The muddy mess was water soluble and came right up with warm water, dish soap and a mop. Definitely the best way to get up stuff that potentially has asbestos in it.
You should contact Franmar, they were happy to send me samples to do some test spots and recommended SoyGel for my situation. I had great success. See before and after pics below.
I had a similar situation, however in my case the mastic was put on top of vintage tiles, then at some point was just painted over. My goal was to remove the mastic and restore the cool old tiles buried beneath. I used SoyGel and it worked very well (SoyGel is made by Franmar which also makes Beenie-doo).
Soy gel is exactly what it sounds like, a gel so it was easy to manage (Beenie-doo has the consistency of vegetable oil). I just applied it, let is set for a few hours then used a floor scraper to scoop up the muddy/jelly-like gunk.
The stuff on my tiles were laid on pretty thick so it took a couple of applications. The muddy mess was water soluble and came right up with warm water, dish soap and a mop. Definitely the best way to get up stuff that potentially has asbestos in it.
You should contact Franmar, they were happy to send me samples to do some test spots and recommended SoyGel for my situation. I had great success. See before and after pics below.
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Lol then that's exactly what i'll be doing because that will save me hours of not having to scrape this crap up.
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