removal of glued dowb carpet


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Old 08-08-11, 11:08 AM
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removal of glued dowb carpet

I have some very old indoor/outdoor type carpet that is glued down to a concrete slab floor. Carpet is disintegrating badly, just shreds and threads when I try to pull it up. Any ideas on how to remove it and the residue on the concrete? Any solvents to use or just scrap away. Have to get the concrete clean enough to prep for tile installation

Thanks....
 
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Old 08-08-11, 11:36 AM
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Cut into strips and have someone scrape as you try to pull. Then scrape it all afterwards. Any remaining glue could possible be removed with solvent...but that might affect the bonding of the thinset for the tile...not sure of that.
 
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Old 08-08-11, 12:02 PM
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Mineral spirits and a scraper if you have no plans to put down tile, just the scraper if you do.

Significant elbow grease may be required either way.
 
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Old 08-09-11, 05:50 PM
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If you have an old carpet store in your area, they may still have an electric take up machine.
 
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Old 08-09-11, 06:55 PM
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I will tell you what I did if you want to read all my elaborate details. Sorry for the long-windedness, but I feel all of the info may come in handy. Also, the technique for removing the actual carpet may not work if what you are saying is that the carpet is just disintegrating if you try to pull on it...

I had berber carpet glued down in a back room of my basement that had no windows and it smelled, so I wanted to remove it to put down an epoxy paint that is easy to clean and disinfect. Like most people who had a similar situation, the glue that was underneath the carpet was hard and dirty looking and impossible to remove. I didnt want to just paint over top of it. It was a brownish-yellow glue.

I removed the carpet by cutting it into strips with a carpet or utility knife, rolled it up, duct taped it into rolls, and took it to the dump.

After reading many posts on many sites, I first wanted to try boiling water for cleanliness sake. I poured 3 pots in the same area and scraped it with a 4" razor scraper. There was still much glue left. I had read about people not having much success with chemical strippers, and since there was little ventilation and I have animals, I was apprehensive to try the chemicals, either the harsh ones or the low VOC (green) ones. I figured at about $20 a bottle the cost of using the chemicals could easily surpass $100 and the mess and fumes it left could be undesirable. Plus time could have taken many weekends.

So on to my solution. My room measures 17'x15' (255 sq ft). I found that it was possible to rent a concrete grinder. Not knowing much about them I did a search on youtube and found a video of someone removing the glue pretty quickly with the grinder (search "Carpet glue removal 7" Grinder Vac"). This looked great to me so I did more research. A company in my area, and I believe nationwide, called Sunbelt Rentals rented the grinder. I had two choices:

One was a walk behind that that DID NOT come with a vacuum and weighed 200+ pounds. Probably for large areas. The other was a handheld model that DID come with a vacuum. It is about the same size and weight as a large angle grinder, easily held and maneuvered. The vacuum is about the same as a normal shop vac and is on wheels, but has a special filter. The service people there knew the tools well and advised me on the handheld.

Like most tool rentals, they did not come with instructions, but the manuals were readily available on Hilti's website. BTW, I rented a Hilti DG-150 grinder with a diamond cup wheel, the Hilti vac was VC-40U. The vac hooked up simply to the grinder and I plugged the grinder in to one outlet in the room and the vac into another to avoid over-taxing the outlets. Mine were on separate breakers as well. I had my GF follow me to keep the cords out of the way.

I covered all things that I did not want dust on with a plastic dropcloth, covered the doorway, and covered the open outlets with duct tape. BTW, I took everything out of the room except the circuit breakers are in that room and some shelves, so that is what I covered to keep dust off.

Come to find out, THERE WAS LITTLE TO NO DUST! the vac worked great! I probably didnt need a mask, but I did wear a mask, goggles, ear plugs, sweat band, gloves, and jeans, knee pads and a long sleeve shirt. I always practice safety. Now, the tool I rented was in good shape and I am sure there is always a chance that a rental wouldnt work great all the time if things were clogged or there were holes in the vac hose. So make sure any rented tool is in working order with a good grinding wheel and all. I should mention that I do not do this stuff for a living. I am pretty good with tools, but by no means an expert.

Price. It cost me $90 to rent the grinder and vac, $90 for the diamond cup wheel, and tax and insurance, which you need because these tools are expensive if you break them. Seriously, $800 for a used one on Ebay, and $1200 for 4 diamond wheels, not to mention the vac.

TIME: LITERALLY, IT TOOK ME 45 MINUTES TO GRIND ALL THE GLUE OFF OF THE 250 sq ft FLOOR! I STARTED WITH THE PERIMETER AND WORKED INWARDS. 250 SQ FT IN LESS THAN AN HOUR, NO DUST, EASY CLEAN UP, PLUS IT ROUGHENED THE FLOOR IN PREP FOR THE EPOXY! You will have to scrape the edges; the grinder leaves about a 1/4" gap against the wall.

I know $200+ is expensive, especially if figured on an hourly basis, but it was well worth it for me! I suggest anyone in this situation rent a grinder, take the steps, watch a video on youtube, and get some knee pads. One person stated to grab a 4" scraper and plan on spending weeks on your hands and knees. NOT ME! I was done in less time than the Price is Right takes to air.

Just make sure you know the equipment well and prep the area and tools. I also found that the vac was full by the end, so if doing more than 250sqft, check the vac to empty it at about 250sqft.

I then mopped up, sponged the walls, and returned the grinder. I dont have much money, but this was worth saving my back and time and lungs and possibly scalded body (boiling H2O). I hope this helps anyone planning on pursuing this pain in the butt activity of removing carpet glue from concrete floors.
 
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Old 08-10-11, 08:05 AM
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got 'r done!

Lots of great ideas............thanks to all for them.

Here's what I did.

Scored, cut through the carpet in 12 inch or so strips with carpet knife.

Pulled up any loose edges that were easy to get to

Soaked the cut areas with hot water right out of the HW heater.
Let it soak in good.

Used a heavy 5 inch hand scraper (Hyde) to push or hammer loose the strips.

Used a 4 inch scraper to remove residual glue and carpet backing

Cleaned the concrete with 70% rubbing alcohol and water rinse and dried it with vent fan I was using.

Hard on knees and other body parts but done in 6 hours and about $30 dollars cost.
 
 

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