[mark shannon]

Have a big area to quote for offices with raised aluminium floor tenant moved out and landlord complaining about tackifier on 500s/m of floor.

Need to do a test next week and old client 90% certain i will get job IF I can remove glue.

Would a good stripper, rotary and wet vac do the job? Bearing in mind wiring channelled under floor so will have to keep water to a minimum

Any ideas?

mark

[Jamie Pearson]

I have done loads of these and every one of them has been a numpty!

I would get your hands on of few different strippers as what works on one doesn't work on another. It's impossible to dissolve this stuff unless it's only a couple of years old and water based. Some come off with hot neutral detergent. It will take ages to clean down all the kit at the end of it so budget for that.

Also you can't just chuck it in the drain. You need to separate out all the glue from the effluent. We use a mop bucket and pour it through a wringer.

The best method I have found so far is to apply which every stripper works best, usually neat, with a watering can and fine rose. Leave it till its almost dry and absorbed the stripper then use either a scarifying brush or hipro pads to break it up. vac then re apply stripper and vac again. Often a couple of laps with a scrubber dryer afterwards can be beneficial. Qualify with the client that ther may be some scratching of the panels. This can often be buffed out with a dry green or black pad when the floor is dry.

Sometimes it can be quicker just to spray about 50m2 and hit it with a floor scraper depending how thick it is. Usually on older solvent based adhesives this is the only way. 3 guys in a line on applying, 2 scraping and swap position every 5 minutes.

There is some nice tooling just for glue and adhesive removal but they jus don't work on access panels they are better for concrete.

[Hilton]

Don't know if this helps but a guy I know uses fine sand a roto with a black pad to remove adhesive from hard floors, might be worth giving it a go.

[Jamie Pearson]

Does he sprinkle sand onto the glue first? Seems like a good plan as its always the area that still have bits of vacking that come off best.

[Hilton]

Yes just spreads it around,roto ,sweep up and then spread around again and so on until done.....very cheap and of course its dry.

As usual , test an area first..

[mark shannon]

Thanks guys will do a test area next week and see what works.

[Kev Martin]

If sand works it must be because the silica in the sand is acting as an abrasive.  Therefore Aqua Seal Hone Powder 60 grit would probably work as well.  We have had cases where we tried the Honing Powder on granite and it actually improved the shine this is down to the fact that you are applying a coarse honing powder to a very hard surface and therefore you have a polishing effect.

Kev Martin
Marble Life Ltd

[Kev Martin]

Does he sprinkle sand onto the glue first? Seems like a good plan as its always the area that still have bits of vacking that come off best.

Jamie

Next time try the Aqua Seal Hone 60 grit dry and see if it works!

Kev

[Jamie Pearson]

Does he sprinkle sand onto the glue first? Seems like a good plan as its always the area that still have bits of vacking that come off best.

Jamie

Next time try the Aqua Seal Hone 60 grit dry and see if it works!

Kev

I have done and Sealing & Coating remover.

I think the key here is the dry aspect of the removal.

We have always tried it wet.

[Jamie Pearson]

If sand works it must be because the silica in the sand is acting as an abrasive. 

It could also be coating it and stopping it sticking to itself or back onto the floor.

[Griffus]

Did a small area which was caked in the stuff. Used Xylene, a floor scraper and millions of old rags. Did the trick but took about three hours as after getting all the tackifyer off I spray-buffed.

In my worst nightmares I wouldn't want to face 500 sq metres of the stuff!

[mark shannon]

Did a small area which was caked in the stuff. Used Xylene, a floor scraper and millions of old rags. Did the trick but took about three hours as after getting all the tackifyer off I spray-buffed.

In my worst nightmares I wouldn't want to face 500 sq metres of the stuff!

Did a test area, Sand didnt touch it, strong solvent based stripper neat removed 75% but dangerous and too time consuming. Called F Ball the floor adhesive manufacturer and they gave me a number of company that specialises in Tackifier removal so passed the job on. To big a job for a one man band.

[Jamie Pearson]

D-tac? They use solvent and scrapers to do job. If its the old F2 adhesive that can be the only way in my experience. DeTac will send the product to you.

[mark shannon]

Thats the company Jamie is there anything you don't know?

Jamie I haven't the time or inclination at 48 to spend a few days on my hands and knees with a scraper so have bowed out giving the client a couple of options.

mark

[Jamie Pearson]

It's tough shift for sure.

You can get long handle scrapers these days

[Griffus]

lol, job's a nightmare even using proper floor scrapers, but to be on your hands and knees would be some sort of divine punishment  

See here