Adhesive Removal in Concrete Floors
Tile adhesive is usually used to, well, stick tiles into concrete floors. The tile adhesive works like a glue, making the tiles stick into the floor so it won’t move.
There are different types of tile adhesives, and knowing which one was used for your floor will make adhesive removal easier for you. The most popular type of tile adhesives is what we call organic mastics. They are preferred because they don’t require mixing and will make tiles stay in place without slipping.
Mortar is also a popular choice for tile adhesive. It’s usually mixed, and has better bonding strength than organic mastics. They are also more flexible, and needed to be applied in a paper-thin layer.
Steps to Follow for Adhesive Removal
There are several steps on how to perform adhesive removal:
The first step is to water the adhesive. Use hot water to mop the floor in order to soften the adhesive. Carefully mop it so as not to damage the floor underneath. Once the adhesive has soften, use a scraper to remove it.
If water won’t soften the adhesive, you can use a chemical adhesive remover as an alternative. There will be instructions on the bottle so read the instructions carefully and follow them. Apply the remover and once the adhesive has softened, scrape it off.
If you’re working with a concrete floor, you can also use a sharp blade. This looks like a razor and was especially made for scraping the softened adhesive out.
Once you have successfully removed the adhesive, you can proceed with sanding the floor. This is a necessary step to prepare the floor for the next covering. While some floor coverings can be installed over rough floors, there’s nothing more ideal than sanded floors.
Is Adhesive Removal Difficult?
Adhesive removal is not as difficult as tile removal, although it can be messy. I guess you’re also wondering if it’s worth paying for somebody else to do it.
If you have all the time in the world, there should be no problem doing the task yourself. If you have a job or a business to run though, I’d say go ahead and hire a professional. This task may take a couple of days to finished and I’m sure you’d rather spend your time on more important things.
For adhesive removal, the biggest reason on why you should hire a professional because you might just end up hiring them anyway. As mentioned, tile removal is very laborious and involves a lot of steps to be done right. A lot of people decided to do tile removal on their own, but found out that they can’t do it so they hire a professional halfway. I mean, if you’re going to pay for it then it would be better to just hire a professional right away than waste time trying it by yourself, right?