What is the best way to remove linoleum from a concrete slab?

[tk2kewl]

I am pretty sure it is linoleum and not vinyl. I tried a square shovel but it was of little use. Is there something that can be mopped on that will penetrate and dissolve the glue? Would heating it help? I intend to get a proper scraper rather than the shovel.

[Kali]

1. try hot water

took up an old kitchen floor that was on wood, almost ruined the wood by trying to use a roof tile scraper - then while wiping up some of the debris, we noticed the adhesive was dissolving. it was some kind of starch based stuff, hard as rock but freaking dissolved with hot water!

[tk2kewl]

2. thanks for the tip

yahoo answers says heat gun helps too

[Sedona]

3. Lucky you! I'm a flooring "expert"

Elbow grease and razor blades.

Go to a "flooring supply store" If you PM me your zip code I'll find you one near by.

What you want to ask for is a "stand up razor scraper" and a box of 8-10 inch blades.

They sell ones that are small that you use on your hands and knees with a 4 inch blade, but unless its a very small area your back and knees will be glad you spent a few bucks more on the "stand up" ten inch version.

Then scrape scrape scrape changing blades often. For heat you can try a blow dryer or rent a "heat gun"

You may even be able to rent the scraper.

DO NOT under any circumstances use "Something that can be mopped on that will penetrate and dissolve the glue" if you plan to adhere anything (even stain) to the floor anytime soon. It may not seem like it but concrete is very porous and anything that will dissolve the adhesive will prevent anything new from sticking to it.

If you plan a new floating floor, then go for the adhesive remover. Make sure you're well ventilated!

PLAN B: Find a flooring installer with the proper tools to send his apprentice over to do it. Expect to pay about $25 an hour for this depending on where you live.

On edit: Tip the apprentice, he's likely making $10 an hour or less.

[tk2kewl]

4. great, thanks

this is a Sandy flood damaged home. I removed carpet from the other rooms and plan on tiling throughout after removing the kitchen floor. flexbond thinset is my preferred method for tiling. is there anything i need to do to prep the slab after removing the linoleum?

[mferlaino]

10. Contractor used adhesive remover - Will this be a problem for spreading grout on after?

Just found your post about not "mopping" anything that will dissolve the glue. The guy that we hired to do the title work and remove the linoleum has been using some adhesive remover he got from Lowe's. Will this be a problem now?

[Sedona]

11. depends on what kind of grout it is

for ceramic tile and cement based grout you should be fine.

[beac]

5. Heat gun and scraper.

I had to do that exact job in our old house. The heat gun makes it 1000% easier. Just be sure to have an old towel (folded up) or something else non-meltable that you can rest the hot gun on while it cools and you scrape b/c heatings.

FYI, I bought a pretty cheap heat gun at the hardware store. Doesn't need to be fancy, just hot.

Good luck!

[katherinedresty]

6. Its works great

Last edited Tue Sep 24, 2013, 04:43 AM - Edit history (1)

I used heat gum method for my old kitchen, it really works but I found it quite difficult as I am not used to with such kinda concreting stuffs.

[gopiscrap]

7. Welcome to DU

[Gov101]

8. The 4" razor scraper is the easiest and fastest.

I just did this in the kitchen recently and I tried a bunch of things first but when I finally broke down and got a $6 razor scraper designed specifically for this job, it turned to to actually not be that bad and a lot faster actually than the hot water or chemicals or belt sander methods I had previously tried. Gotta get the kind with the replaceable 5" razor blades.

[Thor_MN]

12. Belt Sander?!?!?!

That is a horrible idea!!! Some composite flooring used to be made with asbestos. Just about the worst thing one could do is to sand it away as that would certainly free asbestos fibers. Since they are embedded in the mastic of the tiles, it's normally fairly difficult to get any fibers loose, even if you break up the tiles.

I know you discarded that idea, but for anyone looking for ideas, DO NOT use a belt sander on linoleum, or any other composite flooring.

[snooper2]

13. And the adhesive if prior to 1977 or so probably has asbestos in it

Went though three layers of flooring at the old house and when I finally got to the slab had to get the adhesive off for the new tile I was putting down. It was black and hard and not coming up...so

I started using goof off to get it up and ran out pretty quickly. Ran over to Lowes and was chatting with a guy there and he was like, you are using a mask right! Learn something new every day

Goof Off is great stuff by the way....

[tk2kewl]

9. It was very difficult to remove everything from the slab, even with the best razor scraper

i had to use a citrus-based solvent to soften the glue otherwise the flooring surface scraped off but left the glue behind.