Told my floor can't be sanded

[jackyswan]

Hi everyone
I have just joined this forum. My plea for help is about my baltic floor boards in my kitchen. AFter many months of removing the glued on tiles (chipping away centimetre by centimetre literally) I had a professional sander come and tell me they can't be sanded. The reason is because there is too much black glue still on them and it would be too costly. I really love floor boards and am just hoping that someone knows of a way to remove the Shallack ( I think that is what it is called but unsure of the spelling) Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Here's wishing
Jacky

[glock40sw]

G'day.
It may be cheaper to install a solid wood 12mm overlay floor over the top of the old floor.
Just glue and nail to the old floor and sand and seal in the usual manner.

[mic-d]

Could you post some photos?

Cheers
Michael

[BigCal]

Is it the Tar like glue? if it is hire an edger and buy some 24 grit pads from a flooring supplier. I recently got rid of 12-15sqm of the black tar like stuff for $60 hireage and $18 dollars of pads... I say buy the pads from elsewhere because i got them for 1/3rd the price of the hire shop...

[That Floor Guy]

What is the adhesive? was it used to adhere ceramic tiles? or is it the bitumen based adhesive used to adhere vinyl tiles?

Usually with most adhesives you can use a diamond grinder with water(to stop clogging) and a squeegee to grind away the adhesive. Tip:- attack small sections at a time to keep the mess down. Also hiring a bigger upright grinder may be less aggressive than the 9" angle grinder type.

Whatever the case if there's timber under there then it is just a case of cleaning the adhesive off, just depends on what your adhesive is to come up with the best method.

Also as well as covering the old timber with new timber which you would then be wise to continue through the rest of the house intended for a hard floor, you may also think of making a feature out of your kitchen by installing designer vinyl plank or tiles of some description. Check out products by Karndean, Amtico, Gerflor, etc as they can look impressive and wear extremely well (used in supermarkets, etc these days). This method will only build your floor up by about 8mm in the kitchen and the "tile" look could contrast nicely with your Baltic floor boards.

[jackyswan]

Sorry for taking so long but it took me a while to work out how to resize my photos and send them. Hope you can see clearly enough.
Thanks
jacky68411

68412

[That Floor Guy]

looks like bitumen adhesive to me, not that thick though. Could try scraping it off using a floor stripper machine, probably won't need a heavy duty one though, a hilti type with the scraper blade attachment will do (commonly found at Kennards, etc).That should get the bulk of it off and make it light enough for a drum sander to handle.

Tip :- Sharpen the blade on one side only and have the sharpened side facing down as so you don't dig into your floor.

[jackyswan]

Thanks I will give that a go.
jacky

[naturesbest]

Hi everyone
I have just joined this forum. My plea for help is about my baltic floor boards in my kitchen. AFter many months of removing the glued on tiles (chipping away centimetre by centimetre literally) I had a professional sander come and tell me they can't be sanded. The reason is because there is too much black glue still on them and it would be too costly. I really love floor boards and am just hoping that someone knows of a way to remove the Shallack ( I think that is what it is called but unsure of the spelling) Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Here's wishing
Jacky
Gas bottle with burner attachment you can hire these also you'll need putty knife but most of all you need a gas mask.

[dazzler]

Gas bottle with burner attachment

And these guys on 000...:p

http://www.firemansam.co.uk/gfx/wavegroup.jpg

[jackyswan]

I did look at my gas burner and thought Holy........ I don't think so. Thanks for the picture,

[Dusty]

That floor can be sanded relatively easily, so I suggest you call in another floor sander to check it out.

Also, have a squizz at this thread here (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=66446) where I have posted some pictures of glue removal just like yours.

[Pat]

Paint scraper, for that small area. Shovel for larger areas. Don't laugh, I did it for my place. Damn hard work but worthwhile in the end.

[mic-d]

You can buy a tool called a floor scraper, bunnings even have them, and it will work quite well on that stuff. Keep it sharp using a file drawn across the tip face, keep those edges nice and crisp.

Cheers
Michael

[petaoco]

we just took all the black stuff off using turps and a scraper got most of it off

[Blu_Rock]

If the machine techniques described earlier don't work, then try a heat gun turned up flat out and a sharp stainless steel scraper. Heat up a smallish area (15cm x 15cm) of the glue first and then get the scraper warm. Then play the heat directly in front of the scraper while scraping off the glue and it should come up easily. I removed a lot of old glue this way when renovating my laundry.

[acutefloors]

call another floor sander. he doesnot want to get his machine dirty. you will find one who will but will cost. shallack will come off no prob

[DNL]

I have a similar problem, and hired the floor scraper go lift the remnants of the rubberised glue from lifting a slate floor of timber boards.

Hired from Kennards, and while it did an ok job, it was hard work. 18kg weight in the front, and I still had to push down on the front to stop the blade just kicking over the glue.

I've done the paint scraper, heat gun, rotary hammer with chisel bit, hammer and chisel, floor scraper, belt sander, shovel, and it is just a hard hard job.

The floor is going to be covered with tiles, so I will put an underlay board down first, glued and srewed , and then tile.

It is just one of those keep plugging away until your at a stage where you can do what you need. If you are refurbing though to wood - you may have a way to go.

best of luck - I know what you are going through!