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plaidbanana_77 t1_iy51gix wrote

Reply to comment by SummitWanderer in Removing mastic while preserving hardwood floors underneath? by SummitWanderer

The tar is also not good for hardwood floors. Steam is at least less bad than tar.

At this point you cannot fuck it worse than it’s already fucked. Outcome options are horrible failure which results in some nice looking LVP, or shining success resulting in perfectly refinished hardwood. Both outcomes are wildly better than where you are now with carpet ripped up and linoleum partially removed down to the uneven adhesive.

Most adhesives will come up with heat or a solvent. Try steam and heat gun before solvent(diesel, mineral sprits, turpentine) but keep a fire extinguisher and water bucket nearby when using the heat gun. Use a 4” metal putty knife, so you don’t melt it to the floor, to scrape away tar loosened by the steam/heat gun.

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WhyKnott2Day t1_iy6uhyr wrote

Agree except NO heat gun... use steam and a putty knife. A heat gun used on mastic and/or unknown "varnish" can (and will) cause toxic fumes...

Source: I have refinished a third of the wood floors in my 122 yr old house, most of which have/had at least 3 layers of linoleum and 1 or 2 layers of carpet and foam padding... ended up hospitalized for acute respiratory distress due to chemical pneumonia from using a heat gun to soften the mastic... Took 5 months to recover fully.

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SummitWanderer OP t1_iy5dlm6 wrote

Thank you for the input! Looks like I'll be pulling out my heat gun!

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