Removing Carpet Glue?

451 Views 7 Replies 3 Participants Last post by akeyes, Jan 21, 2020

pindude80

Discussion Starter · Jan 20, 2020

Hello All,

I would like to get started on one of my "winter projects" which is removing the carpet that is in my kitchen, that's right carpet in the kitchen!

lain:

I don't think I will be at this house more than a few more years so I was thinking of replacing the carpeting with something inexpensive like a stick-on tile or a roll-out vinyl?

I haven't started to pull the carpet up but when I had the refrigerator out there wasn't any carpet under it and it appears when they installed the carpet they glued it down. Does the glue need to be removed to make sure the new flooring goes down flat? If so how much of a process / PITA will that be?

I am looking at getting a line of credit on the house in the near future so I will be needing to get it appraised and I don't want to get into a big project and have the kitchen "under renovation" during the appraisal.

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pindude80

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 20, 2020

Forgive me, but what is a "loose lay" vinyl? From the glue I saw under the refrigerator I doubt any of it is still wet and it appears the carpet has probably been down since sometime in the 80s.

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pindude80

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 21, 2020

rusty baker said:
Loose lay is like "Flexitec"
. It does not have to be glued to the floor. Very DIY friendly.

Ok, sounds like this is something I might want to look into. Thanks!

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pindude80

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 21, 2020

akeyes said:
I would get up as much of that glue as you can. If you are using a thin vinyl sheet flooring / thin stick-on flooring, then you need the floor to be completely smooth (no bumps or divots). Even a little bit of glue the size of a piece of rice will be noticeable when the vinyl is placed over it. Same with any divots / dents. When you pull the carpet up, check the subfloor carefully. Is it just plywood underneath?

If you're using thicker planks with built in pads then it doesn't matter near as much.

I just placed a whole bunch of the 12' wide thin sheet vinyl in several rooms. It's a great, very durable project. You can find it very cheap too. Of course it doesn't look / feel like luxury, but that's why it's so cheap.

Also be aware that the vinyl is probably a good bit thinner than your current carpet / pad. So switching our carpet for vinyl...you may have a small gap all around the perimeter of your kitchen where the flooring meets the wall / cabinet / etc (depending on how the carpet was installed). You can likely cover this gap with quarter round, but it's worth thinking thru before you make any definite decisions.

Is there a special tool to remove the glue or would I use a paint scraper? If I end up with any divots, what is the best way to fix them, wood putty?

Good point about the vinyl being thinner than the current carpet. The house was built in '66 and I would guess the carpet was put down sometime in the 80s so something was probably there before. I will take a closer look where the floor meets the wall,cabinets, etc.

I think the floor is plywood but it's been a few years since I had the refrigerator out so I would have to double check.

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