Flooring Tile - Remove Old Glue?

I'm planning to tile the floor of my basement. After several floods - I'm done with carpet over vinyl tile. I was told that if the cement floor is black from the old glue I would have to clean it off...How do I do this and do I REALLY have to do it?

If it wasn't for the flooding, you could have probably gotten away with going on top of the glue. I'm not sure what would happen to the ceramic if you had a flood afterwards. You may be able to rent a floor grinder at your local rent-all. It's looks like a commercial floor polisher, but with grinding stones instead of brushes. Kind of pain, I know, but the alternative is solvents...and that's even worse.

Yep, we go over the black stuff (cut back/ashpalt emulsion), but I wouldn't do it in a flood prone area. I think it's going to have to be removed.

John

I'm being told by a contractor that using an underlayment will work fine and the cutback won't be a problem. Home Depot says the same thing. Not that I don't believe you but I like the sound of their answers better (less work). I do want the floor to last though...

The contractor explained that the cutback is not solid on the floor and the underlayment will adhear to the concrete as well as cover the cutback. He said it will be fine unless the cutback lifts and if it hasn't in the past 30 years - it probably won't.

Does this make any sense???

Seems to make sense, doesn't it? And it certainly would be a lot easier, wouldn't it? I'll stick with what I said the first time around. Why take the chance with an expensive floor?

John