removing vinyl tiles

[workgoose]

Hello everyone, I'm faced with the problem of removing old vinyl tiles from a wooden floor. Apparently when they had the rest of the floors in the house sanded and polished the floorsander had a hell of time getting rid of the vinyl, it was stuck on with some kind of tarry substance. Does anybody know what it might be and how to get rid of it? I will be tiling over it, so it won't have to be perfect, just so long as there aren't any lumps. Any advice would be appreciated. Peter

[Gumby]

I had sheet vinyl glued directly to the timber floors rather than on masonite sheets (by previous owners) :mad:

There was no easy way of getting it off. I tried a few methods but ended up on my knees with a cheap heat gun from Bunnings and a scraper. It was slow, hard and boring. I did a section at a time and took about 3 weeks to get it all off. Make sure you have good ventilation, the smoke and fumes are really bad.

[dalejw]

Good luck mate...

This thread is about cork tiles but contains all sorts of methods that don't work :D

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=38033

[workgoose]

dalejw, thanks a lot for the encouragement, must have been great to have your knees softened in a lake of turps.:eek: I think I'll try Gumbys suggestion with the heatgun and I'll use a sharp spade to lift them. Fortunately there will be ceramic tile over top of it all so I won't have to be too careful about the timber floor. I have quoted for three days work for the removal of the tiles.

[Larry McCully]

The heat gun will work.Another tip is to buy a set of leather gloves used in work shops. I think they atre much thicker, these glovs will prevent youfrom getting burnt and the tar is a bugger to get of your hands. Heat up the top of the tile and as you peel it of direct the heat in between the tile and the floor. They come of easy. Use knee pads.

[Guy]

Just be warned, depending on how long these tiles have been down they may infact contain absestos in them. If they snap easily when trying to get them up it may be worth getting them checked out.