Posted by Todd (65.187.231.105) on December 05, 2001 at 17:37:27:
In Reply to: I need help from the men on the board, before I get to hot and get a cluster! posted by Elaine on December 05, 2001 at 10:57:59:
And thanks to everyone who offered her suggestions in my absence. E did a great job and even though the floor isn't quite finished yet, it's close.
Just to clarify and let everyone rest easy, the flooring was sheet vinyl from the late 80's, attached with the yellow adhesive, so no danger of asbestos. Unfortunately, it was full contact - not just glued around the edges. On the plus side, this type of flooring over concrete means they used a very thin coat of adhesive - looks like a 1/8" notched trowel, since flattened even more by wear and tear. So, the adhesive doesn't need to come up - just the vinyl and (the hard part) the paper backing where it stuck better to the floor than to the vinyl. That's what E spent the better part of today scraping up.
The demands of work have pushed me off-schedule on my home improvements, so E's help with this is invaluable. With luck, I'll be installing the new maple flooring this weekend.
KTSSU,
T
P.S. While the floor scraper, hand scraper, solvents and heat gun/hair dryer are all good, time-proven methods, the wet towels really did a great job for free and with no chemical dangers. Only works on the backing, of course, but that's usually where the problem comes in - when the vinyl separates as you yank it up with brute force.
P.P.S. No, I didn't just call E a brute. Shut up, don, paco, den, jonny, margi, ... :-)