Help with peel and stick flooring
 

OK... quick question. My wife and I are putting down some peel and stick flooring in the bathroom (actually sister-in-law is doing it). We pulled up the old stuff (it was buckling, so we couldn't just lay the new stuff down on top), there's quite a bit of adhesive left on the floor... two questions, will that be a problem for the new tile and if so, do you know of anything to dissolve it that won't cause permanent damage to the floor and/or home?

My guess will be if the old adhesive is 3-dimensional, those lumps will transfer through the new vinyl.


And I don't think you'll be able to dissolve it. Anything strong enough to dissolve something old like that would probably have to be some pretty potent stuff. I know scraping will likely be back-breaking, but it's probably your only realistic option.

If that's the only viable option, what about running a belt sander over it quickly?

Try renting a floor sander with like 40 grade sandpaper. That might get that crap up.

Good luck. That shit is tough to clean.

That's REALLY not what I wanted to hear. The SIL is coming down tonight to do the floor tomorrow.

A belt sander would probably work quite well if you can get belts that don't gum up or tear. Keep in mind that will kick up a lot of dust. Probably more than you think. Be sure to seal off the vents and doorway.

Is the old adhesive really hard, or is it still somewhat flexible?

You can get some concrete backer board & screw it down to secure it. It'll raise the floor about 1/8 inch but it'll be smooth. Then get a strip to transition the floor from the next room.

??? No idea... still sticky, that's for sure. I would guess, since it's still tacky, that it's flexible. By lumps, did you mean big lumps, or just textured like it would be? There aren't any spots that are taller than others, it's all smooth on the floor, but it's still sticky... I kinda thought it would actually help the new tile stick. But I certainly could be wrong.

I know there are places, ie Lowe's, that sell stuff to dissolve that adhesive, but in my opinion it is not worth the money and time to use since you just end up scraping the stuff up anyway.

Depending on how much square footage there is I would just hand scrape it or as mentioned previously the floor sander.

Good luck.

Not big enough for a floor sander, guaranteed. It's a small bathroom -- the 45-square-feet of tile I bought will be plenty.

If you don't want to scrape it off...you could throw down some subflooring.

*I* would just hand scrape it then. It would not take too much time to do and that way you would know it is done right and the floor is smooth.

:cuss: Dammit... I didn't WANT to do that!!!














:sulk:

MIght want to try underlayment.

Vinyl tile probably won't hide any bumps in the floor. Underlayment will help give it a smooth consistent finish.

Wait a minute... I just noticed the emphasis on "I," meaning you, epitome. I'll be sending you a PM with my address. I need it done by tomorrow morning.

I'll give you some rep as soon as it's done. Thanks, and I guess I'll see you this afternoon!