I ripped the old carpet from the kitchen, exposing the plywood underneath. I want to to install vinyl tiles. The old carpet came off without any difficulty. There was no foam or padding of any kind underneath. However, there is still old glue on the plywood. It must have been applied using one of those grooved spreaders because I can clearly see the groove lines in the glue. The glue does not appear to be more than a 1mm thick. However, I am concerned if I can stick the vinyl tiles directly over it.
Removing the glue would be quite a lengthy project. Sanding did not work. I tried a carpet glue solvent. It worked (with a lot of hard scraping), but I am concerned about the side effects. It is highly flammable and a health hazard, and the whole house smelled for two days even though I only tested it over a 5 sq.ft.
Question: is it ok to glue the vinyl over the old glue? I am not an expert in these things, but I imagine that the new glue will flow within the old grooves and form a flat surface for the tiles to to bond to.
Thanks!!