remove old carpet pad glue from concrete floor?

July 12, 2006 3:50 PM

Anybody know how to remove old carpet padding glue from concrete basement floor? Remodeling the room, want to paint the concrete floor (more inside).

I've got an 80 year-old house with a poured concrete foundation and a concrete basement floor. I'm remodeling a room in one corner where they previously had some shag carpet with a carpet pad underneath. Where the carpet pad seams were, there remains a reddish glue on the concrete floor. It runs right down the middle of the floor. It powders a bit when you use one of those big razor scrapers, but it doesn't all come off - just the top layer. I'd like to acid etch and paint the concrete floor (and just put a big area rug in there). Any ideas on how to remove this infernal glue?

posted by spock to home & garden (8 answers total)

I think we used to call it a 'spud' -- a flat straight-edge on the end of a long handle. Used to scrape all manner of junk off of hard surfaces. Not sure what the real name is.
posted by trinity8-director at 4:01 PM on July 12, 2006

Floor scraper + elbow grease
posted by buggzzee23 at 4:16 PM on July 12, 2006

You can also use a product like 3M Adhesive Remover with the scraper, but it just makes a bigger mess (IMNSHO).
posted by buggzzee23 at 4:24 PM on July 12, 2006

After you scrape off the bulk as the first two posters said, you might try a solvent to clean the rest off. I've had good luck with Goof-off for such things. I used a gallon of it to remove carpet glue from a linoleum floor once. Be careful though, it's nasty stuff. Wear an activated carbon mask, open the windows and run an exhaust fan.
posted by octothorpe at 4:31 PM on July 12, 2006

I have no idea if this would work or not, but have you tried Goo Gone? It has worked well for me to remove adhesives from metal.
posted by joannemerriam at 4:33 PM on July 12, 2006

Oh and if you're using large quantities of solvent (either Goo Gone or Goof-off) you might want to turn off the furnace and shut off the water heater if it's gas. Solvents and flame are a bad combination.
posted by octothorpe at 4:45 PM on July 12, 2006

Use a heat gun to soften the glue. Or use a blowtorch (creme brulee torch perhaps?) to heat the blade of the scraper periodically before using it. Some people recommend a blow torch applied directly to the old glue but that'd make me nervous (possibly irrationally, but I would research that option more before trying it).
posted by empyrean at 7:17 PM on July 12, 2006

I've used turpentine to remove carpet tile adhesive. I then followed that up with some metholated spirits to remove any trace of oil and adhesive. Keep well ventilated, and don't splash it around. Just a moistening of the adhesive or a cloth with which to rub it, you don't need great pools of it.
posted by tomble at 7:39 PM on July 12, 2006