Sunday, February 21, 2010

How do you clean black tile/carpet adhesive off of a concrete floor?

I recently pulled up an old carpet from our basement that was covering old tile. The black glue/adhesive from the flooring is on the floor. Most of the heavy stuff is scraped up and the black that is still on there comes off on your socks or shoes but doesnt wash off well with amonia..Any other suggestions?How do you clean black tile/carpet adhesive off of a concrete floor?
I have ran a commercial coatings business for many years (second generation) and flip houses as well. I have run into the problem that you are describing. Unfortunately there is no easy fix. The only way I have been able to get it up is with a harsh solvent or steam cleaning.





First of all there is no way to know what kind of glue was used.... sometimes it comes up with something mild like mineral spirits, but usually not. I have always had to use lacquer thinner and don't recommend it, or any solvent for that matter. If you use solvent be sure and wear a mask that protects you from organic vapor ($30 or more) and make sure that there is no ignition source near by because the fumes will be very flammable/explosive. Pour the solvent on the floor... brush it out evenly and then let it set for a min or two, then you can scrape and brush/scrub the black glue off the floor.





Steam cleaning is the best way to do the job... its non toxic. But you have to have a contractor do it (around $60.00 hr) and must have floor drains due to the amount of water used (4-6 gallons a min).





But here is the best thing I鈥檝e recently started doing... just paint it! I use Armorseal Tread-plex from Sherwin-Williams, it is water based and doesn鈥檛 react with the glue... add sharkgrip texture additive and it will hide some of the imperfections in the floor. One gallon will cover about a 20 x30 foot area (each coat, plan on two) and it has worked great for me. HOWEVER we go back to the fact that there are a lot of different glues used over the years and I always do a test spot on the floor to see if the paint will adhere and if the glue will bleed through... (stain).... put a piece of masking tape on the floor (12'; piece) and paint over it leaving a portion of it exposed... wait a couple of days and peel the tape up starting at the exposed end, if the paint comes up in a large sheet with the tape DONT PAINT THE FLOOR, however it stays (80% +/-) down you should be fine. Use a darker color for better coverage and make any bleed through less noticeable. And I would strongly recommend using a good floor coating like treadplex.... its industrial grade and is in no way comparable to anything you will get at a hardware store.





II am supposing that you took up both the carpet and the old tile; if not there is really no way any of these suggestions will work. You might try Krud-Kutter cleaner or Dirtex cleaner if the tile is still down. Feel free to email me if this isn't enough info...How do you clean black tile/carpet adhesive off of a concrete floor?
Mineral Spirits. You can get it at Lowes or Home Depot
Gasoline, Naptha, Mineral Spirits, etc.
Try straight vinegar, pour it on, let it sit a few minutes then suck it up with a wet vac or mop it up. The vinegar is also good at getting rid of smells without knocking you on your butt like ammonia does!


Worked on a hard wood floor after I tore up the linoleum.


Good luck!
a file or some fine fine sand paper

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