Quick flooring question: removing linoleum
 

I'm in the process of ripping out my carpet to install Pergo. I did the kitchen in Pergo a couple of years ago, and the wife loved it so much she wants the rest of the house done in it.

In the dining room, there was linoleum, and then they put carpet right over the top of it. Under the linoleum was particle board, under that is the plywood subfloor. I tore up some of the particle board that was in bad shape, and I'll be replacing it. The rest of the particle board is quite solid, but it has chunks of the linoleum and glue that don't want to come off. I think the black stuff that is stuck is part of the linoleum sheet; the top part popped right off.

What's the best way to get this black stuff scraped off? I tried a heat gun with disappointing results.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1335139293.jpg

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There is a thin blade floor scraper that the pros use. It's got a 12" wide blade and the blade is about 16 ga sheet metal. HD should have it.

Link to Hd scraper. Maybe you can rent it.

Floor Scraper-29-004 at The Home Depot

That looks like exactly what I need, but I'm reluctant to cough up $45 to clean up probably 10ft² of material. I'm not a fan of the "buy-use-return" rental plan.

Check with a tool rental place. they my have it.

Or I have one I could FedEx to you.

You need heat. You can also use a clothing iron. Set in a spot to warm, move, scrape up warm spot, repeat. Or, get a propane torch and a fan tip. Heat up an area and scrape off with ease. Or better yet have a helper use the torch and continuously scrape. Try the iron first. Dont catch house on fire with the torch.

Maybe one of those 30 dollar harbor freight scrapers that are so useful to remove the sound deadening from our Porsche carcasses?

Hm. I have a steamer I used to remove wallpaper - how about that?

I appreciate the offer, but the inherent costs would be greater than the price of the tool!

I always rip out all the old underlayment. You say 10 sq ft. What's keeping you from just tossing that and going down with new across the whole area?

I have use one of those floor scrapers. They work well on vinyl floor tile.
There is another with a heavier gauge steel blade.
Depending upon how tight that black backing material is attached to the underlayment you my have to go that route.

Harbor frieght also has an "Ice Scraper" that us folks in the north use for... scraping ice. Heavier duty and works wonders at chipping off that stubborn crud. They are about 15 bucks.

Just spring for the damn scraper and get ready to sweat. Miserable work but someone has to do it.

why not just pull up all the particle board?

Linoleum can have asbestos content. How old is the house?

I don't think he meant buy-use-return. HD has rental section. You can rent their tool. Usually, they charge per day or hour. To me, if you need to work on the tool for more than a day, it won't worth it to rent.
My thought, if it's only around 10 sq feet, and since you already pulled some of boards, why not pull this one too?

I took a wide putty knife ( probably 12 "), and heated it with a map gas torch, then scraped with it. We did the whole kitchen and dining room, and most of it came up easy, but the areas that were in heavy traffic patterns were really stuck down. This worked like a charm .

Ya beat me to it.
I'd be a little nervous around that stuff until I had a sample tested.

Using heat will soften the glue and release hazardous fumes.

I think...any asbestos itself won't be changed until particalized. That's what it was made for.
The asbestos wrap they used for pipe turned into clouds and was the known killer.
This stuff may have the hard-compacted type.
Still, a little water spray after heating will shrink that side of the surface and keep dust to a minimum.

Either that or just replace the subfloor.