Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - restoring softwood floors with many layers of tile/linoleum on them now

My house has beautiful softwood (Douglas fir) floors throughout, in every room except the kitchen. I'd like to restore the original wood floors in my kitchen, which is currently undergoing a remodel

I've pulled up the tile and layers of linoleum, masonite-type sub flooring , etc in one small area, and the original wood floors are under there, albeit covered in some black adhesive.

Any tips on getting this stuff up? I was thinking a heat gun and putty knife to get up the adhesive, followed by a floor sander once the adhesive is all up. My main concern is that this method is likely to be very labor intensive. I know that there are power tools designed to pull up old flooring, but I am concerned that they will gouge the floor. Its a small kitchen (11x11). Also, I'm aware that some of the old flooring might be asbestos, so I'll take the appropriate precautions there.

Thanks!

Hi,

I just recently refinished some pine floors in my house that had the black linoleum adhesive on them. I first used a heatgun and scraper to lift the bulk of the adhesive. Then using liberal amounts of varsol and steel wool I scrubbed the floor. With a drum sander and 30 grit sandpaper, I sanded the floor.

That just left the edges that still had some of the adhesive. I used the varsol and steel wool combo again and then sanded it with a palm sander and 60 grit paper.

It was only a small portion of the hallway (3'x8') and it took about 10 hours of work.

Many vinyl and linoleum and adhesive products manufactured prior to 1983 contained asbestos. Once airborne the asbestos particles can enter the lungs where they can cause health problems. The only way to be sure is to have both the floor covering and adhesive tested for asbestos. Floors and adhesives are best encapsulated with new floor covering.

I've been doing floors for over 30 years now and never gotten into the chemical process of removing glue. Anytime you use a chemical you lower the melting point of the glue even lower than it already is and will fill up even more sandpaper when you sand it off.

Franklyn

considering that this will be the one time I work around the stuff, and will wear a good ventilator, and seal off the rest of the house. I know the stuff is dangerous, but is it really going to injure someone under these circumstances?