How do you remove linoleum flooring that is glued to cement?

Answer 1

Answer 1Cut, peel, scrape, repeat. It's a terrible process. Once you get it down so that it's close, you may want to use chemicals to get the rest. Be careful and don't let the fumes build up if you decide to use anything dangerous, and don't use anything flamable when the furnace or water heater pilot light is on. Using chemicals to remove anything like that can be dangerous, take the time to learn how to do it safely. Answer 2It can be a bear of a job. And if the tile is really down firmly, but just worn and something you want to replace, there are a number of good methods to install the new material right over the old. No reason to remove it! Answer 3, SAFETY ALERTIn more than 30 years in fire investigation and prevention, I have seen dozens of instances of attempts to use flammable or combustible liquids for this purpose. The results can be devasting to life, limb, and the structure due to explosions and/or fires. I have either worked [or read about] cases in which people died, and worse, survived but with fingers, noses, ears, and/or faces burned off!!!

PLEASE, do NOT attempt to use ANY combustible or flammable liquids, REGARDLESS of turning off [as suggested in answer one] pilot lights, thermostates, electricity, or any other attempts to prevent disaster by reducing potential ignition sources. In spite of eleminating all of these and other ignition sources, static electric or mechanical sparks cannot effectively be eliminated, so all the hazards of fire and/or explosion remain.j3h.

Answer_4">Answer 4I'll just tell you how I did it recently for a thrift shop that was trying to put in new flooring, and had some forty year old linoleum tiles glued down to the concrete floor. First off, this type of cement (black stuff) is usually water-soluble. You can just get some rags and towels and wet them, then throw them down, but you'll have to wait overnight, at least. Yes, you can chip away, if you are a sucker for punishment and have a few days to recover from the blisters and fatigue.

My way.. I took a bottle of propane and a large torch, of the kind used for roofing jobs, and I heated and softened the old tile, while two other people scraped. One ran a floor scraper under the soft tile, and the other guy (standing off to the side), scraped the debris out of our way as we went along. If we didn't do this frequently, then the debris would get reheated and start to smolder.

As easy as this way was, compared to chipping and scraping at the cold tile, it is still exhausting to do all that scraping, and you can get blisters, so we traded off a bit.

In a home, I don't know if I would try this method. We had to do a fairly large area in an unfurnished commercial building, and we had to finish that night.

We got the job finished in a very short amount of time. After that, all of the debris was taken out and placed in an area where there was no fire hazard and we all sat around and waited for an hour, talking, "just in case". The stuff was quite innocuous, though, and didn't really "want" to burn very badly. The little bit of smoke that was produced was very mild and tolerable. As I recall, linoleum tile was made of boiled linseed oil, talc, and sometimes asbestos (prior to 1960). So, you may be looking at some hazardous materials disposal guidelines and safety issues. If you are not sure, take a sample to a qualified expert to make sure there is no asbestos. As long as the material is not pulverized, and is in a 'non-friable' state, you have much less risk of handling, or even leaving it in, if you plan to floor over it.

Personally, I would not be inclined to cement tile down to linoleum flooring, although it can be done. My thinking is that the one weakness of linoleum is the glue and susceptibility to moisture. If you EVER get a leak in the roof, or the sink overflows, or the laundry standpipe trap fails you, you will possibly have your tile-on-tile coming up on you. The damage is usually localized, but repairs could be difficult and costly.

Now, A WORD OF WARNING! any time you're playing with fire, you should take special precautions, including having plenty of water and fire extinguishers available, safe apparel and someone there with a cell phone in case there is a problem. You may also need to pull a permit from the fire department.

But, you don't even have to use a torch or open flame to heat tiles. You could use an infrared heater, of the kind used for auto body work. The infrared wavelengths actually penetrate the material and heat it from the inside out. You could also use a heat gun, or even a hair blow dryer, although this would take considerably longer, but it could be done. The whole point is to get the tiles hot, in the safest way possible, and then get them up and off the floor. Naturally, you do not want to leave any heating equipment unattended, even for a short while. Many buildings have burned because everyone thought that someone else turned off the equipment before they all went home that night.

For the cautious, there is always the water method.. certainly much safer, but slower, and you will have to pay attention to risks of water staining and damage to surrounding areas. A "thirsty" material (hydrophilic) which holds water for a long time is the perfect choice for this job.

There is absolutely NO need to use solvents or petrochemicals or high VOC cleaners to remove or clean up after these tiles. Hot water will do a lot! A little glue will remain on the floor, but it should not matter, when you are trowelling on your adhesive for your ceramic tiles or your new linoleum tiles. Just remember that for linoleum, there must be absolutely NO particle of any small thing, or it will disfigure and damage the new floor when it begins to poke through (it will, trust me).

Good luck, and be careful!

Answer 5

I have similar problem but I want to glue down hardwood. Sheet vinyl has been glued down for about 40 years. (looks like crap by this time. Not knowing what to do I tried the scraper attachment for a reciprocating saw. Worked decent but broke 2 blades before finishing a 3'x4' area. Had already bought the roofer type torch and tried heating the glue after I scraped the vinyl off.Didn't work all that great as I was working alone. Then I found the answer that worked for me.

The Magic: Acetone. First use the blade on the reciprocating saw to remove the vinyl top. This is not a commercial but if you haven't seen the commercials they are made by Spyder and are available at Lowes, I don't know where else. My vinyl top came off pretty easy. Then pour a little acetone on a small area of the remaining glue. After setting a very short time, the clue scrapes off pretty easy. I am still using the blade on the recip saw to scrape. Obviously scrape the glue off before the acetone evaporates. I hope it works for you as well as it worked for me.

Regards.