removing mastic/glue from hardwood floor

[Keye]

I saw a product, years ago, that was used to remove black mastic from concrete. The concrete looked like new after it was used. It smelled like the citrus cleaning products used for household cleaning.

Anyone know where I could find this product in a commercial strenght. Any thoughts what it would do to a hardwood floor.

Does anyone know a better way to remove this mastic/glue, it is black, from the floor. Would prefer not to use a sander.

Asbestos is not an issue.

 

[Bas]

Is this the kind of black glue that was used to bond carpet to concrete? I say "bond" because it almost fuses at the subatomic level. I've used an adhesive stripper for that kind of stuff. Plus lots of scraping. It definitely did not smell like citrus, one of the nastiest solvents I've had to work with.

If you find something that doesn't dissolve brain cells - please post!

 

[russellellis]

Are you sure its glue and not rosin/tar paper? Ive ran across this many times on old houses, where the tar paper was used as a moisture barrier but over time from heat and moisture, it bonded to the hardwood. Its a bear to remove. The best way i found was also the slowest. A hand held heat gun and a clean sharp painters scraper. The quickest but scariest way is to use boiling hot water. Only in 3 or 4 ft sq areas. Let it soak in and scrape away. You will have to take a good chunk off the hardwoods either when sanding as the tar/glue does work its way down into the grain.

 

[Travis Porter]

Maybe it was the Flood's biodegradable deck stripper? I have used it on decks and it smells like orange juice. Stuff was a gel, and worked pretty good.

 

[Glennbear]

What was mastic originally applied for ? At one time I removed glued down commercial carpet from a hardwood strip floor. This floor was maple carried over from an adjacent basketball court. Lots of heavy duty scraping followed by copius application of mineral spirts finishing up with a citrus based cleaner made by Zep and sold at BORG. The MS odor was cut somewhat by the cleaner but it still took awhile for the odor to leave.

 

[Keye]

Probably should have said this is what we found under vynil flooring that was installed many years ago. I think it is mastic because it is black and I have never seen black glue under vynil. The house was built in the 50's by three brothers. We have found some other things that tell me they did not always use standard materials. It still amazes me that people coverd up beautifull wood floors with vynil.

 

[Gotcha6]

Early vinyl floorcoverings also had asbestos fillers. Be careful.

 

[Steve W]

Keye,

Before you go to elaborate lengths or buy expensive strippers, try the universal solvent: water. Wet an area, let it soak for a few minutes and scrape. You may be pleasantly surprised.

How do I know this? Stripped four layers off the floor in my 1927 bungalow and was trying all sorts of fancy chemicals to get that black mastic up to no avail. I spilled a little water on a part of the floor while feeding the cats and the darn stuff came right up! This after spending over $50 on a gallon bucket of Peel Away (which is also water based, so it was working well!).

You can wetten it further (assuming water works) with a little wallpaper paste remover and apply it with a pump sprayer.

HTH

:kermit: Steve