removing old carpet padding stuck on wood floor

That scarpet padding is a b*tch - I found this on the web - remember to not get the floor too hot or burn it with the heat gun:

Pull up shag carpet Pull out the bazillion staples they used to secure the shag carpet Remove non degraded carpet padding with hands Remove degraded carpet padding with heat gun and metal putty knife Remove carpet padding residue with acetone and paper towels

If you aren't too worried about the floors final condition, they sell floor scrapers that you can use standing up. They have sharp razor blades for the edge. Check with your home depot, they might actually rent them.

later,

tom @

I haven't tried this, but I'm thinking that a commercial floor buffing machine would work using a scrubbing disk or a light abrasive disk. Something like this:

Hi, Thanks for your replies! I am not a floor expert, but the hardened clumps on my floor just mey be some kind of glue. It could be anything, the house is over 85 years old, with several previous owners, I dont have any past info on whats happened to the floors. I was told the floor was oak from a friend. When I moved in the carpet was at least 10 years old, a sclupted pile i hated. Heres what I've tried to remove the hardened clumps so far.... I tried a paint removing solvent, acetone based??? did not help, and stunk!

Also tried a rotary sander and didnt even penetrate the thicker clumps, also tried my hand sander, both were not any help, and used many pads trying. The clumps are like a cream beige color, and most are 2" or so wide, and worse in high traffic areas. Could this be some type of glue?? For all I know they could have had linoleum on the floor in the 50's!! There was still linoleum in the upstairs bedroom. I was thinking the last carpet installed they just took up what they could of the clumps and re padded right over. The only way we got the clumps off the hallway was to soak with a solution of water, a little soap, and some liquid enzyme cleaner for at last an hour and then scrape away for hours,and hours with putty knives. Any info if it is glue? I dont have a lot of money to work with on this project, or hire a professional. I just want to get the clumps up, and re finish the floor next year. HELP!!!

thank you, Pat

I would try a heat gun. As an experiment, you might try a hair dryer. A heat gun puts out more heat and is made to do the work you are considering. It will still require a putty knife and manual scraping. If it an old adhesive, it should respond well. ______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

Dear Pat-

I think you've got similar situtation to what I had in my 1930's house.

Oak hardwood throughout with some carpet (or the pad) that had been glued down.

In the glued down rooms we just lived with it (breakfast nook) or removed it & scraped lightly then re-carpeted (one bedroom & family room).

The best / easiest / least damaging way to remove ALL of the residue is by sanding NOT solvent. Scraping can work but you run the risk of gouging the wood.

When I say sanding, I mean with a burly sander (a drum sander is best, a 16" diameter rotary floor sander would be an "ok" second choice).

You've got to get some pressure & some horsepower on that floor; a palm sander is just too little. A burly belt sander could work........ but getting a flat result would require belt sanding skills I have never seen.

Drum sanders & 16" diameter rotary sander can be rented but an inexperienced hand on a drum sander can ruin a floor. The rotary floor sander can work but it will take a LOT longer, it is much more forgiving than the drum sander but slower.

When we had out floor redone, the crew used VERY coarse paper to get the glue off; it looked like pretzel salt bonded to the paper. The glue was gone in a single pass of the sander!

I would suggest re-carpeting with some low cost pad & carpet with the plan to have the floors re-finished by a pro at some later date.

cheers Bob

Thanks again for your suggestions. I have an old heat gun I will certainly try that to see if it helps the clumps. But I am afraid to burn or scorch the floor when I do. Any suggestions, DanG?? I really am not concerned at this point with saving the old finish. When we did the hallway, the finish came off anyway with the clumps. I do plan on a whole new finish once the clumps are gone in all rooms. Question for Bob, was it expensive to hire a pro with the sander?? I have to hire a pro in the end for re-finishing, I'm thinking they will have to sand the entire floor anyway, before they do. Can you give me a rough estimate on what that ran you to sand the clumps off? or was it just figured in with your refinishing job?? I have 2 rooms, dining room 12 x 15 and living room 12 x 18 approx. If its not too much I may just leave the clumps I cant get and wait till next year and have to pros get them when they refinish. I can just put a large area rug on top until then. I dont want to re carpet at all, just area rugs. Let me know!

thank you, Pat

Pat-

Expensivr is a relative term; very dependent on ones situation & point fo view AND location of the job.

Last Sept I had an upstairs landing ~5 x15, two upstairs bedrooms (10 x12 & 12 x12). Downstair bedroom 9 x12 , den 10x12.

The den & downstairs bedroom I just had a light buff & refinish (not snaded down to bare wood).

Upstairs everthing when down to bare woood; stain & re-finish.

He used a water based poly (not my first choice) but the rooms don't get that much traffic & I didn't really want o hassle finding a different guy. The water base finish takes a while to harden up & scratches easily at first.

The whole job was ~$1500 which I thought was pretty good

About 20 years ago I had the rest of the downstairs; living room 15 x

I don't remember the cost but the guy used Swedish finish (Bacca & Glitsa); the stuff has proved to be bullet proof & I would highly reccomend it. You'll need a REAL pro for it & it doesn't have that gym floor shiny look. People will try to talk you out of it but it's reall good stuff

I think your area rug is a great one. Solvents & heat (in my experience) don't make removing glue any easier....it's just gets gummy.

My WAG for your job would be ~1200 to $1800 but a few phone calls to some local floor guys will nail it down quickly

cheers Bob

If you are going to have the floors sanded and refinished, don't bother with the clump removal. I assumed you were trying to smooth the floor enough for a new flooring material. Let the floor guys remove it with their big machines. ______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

Hi Do it Yourselfers, Just finished ripping up a 30yr old rug only to find that the padding underneath, had adhered to the wood floor almost throughout the room. I went to Home Depot and purchased a product called Rejuvenate. Actually there are several versions of this product intended for different purposes. The tile and grout everyday cleaner after letting it lay 10 minutes, decimated the buildup, it still required some scrubbing with a rough pad, but worked like a charm. After spending hours trying to scrape up the residue with a scraper, i was thrilled/relieved. Also while shopping I purchased a second Rejuvenate product which states that it "restores worn floors" haven't used it yet but feeling quite optimistic given my initial experience. I hope this info helps anyone in the same predicament.

replying to Barb, Deborah Jackson wrote: thank you for your post as we started pulling up carpet that has been down since the 60's. Going to try the Rejuvenate before we torture ourselves.