How can I remove carpet tile glue from over lino?

Submitted by 13fingerfx t3_yl19ve in DIY

I am turning an industrial property into a studio and want to remove old carpet tile from the upstairs area (previously used as an office) but the tiles come up leaving all of the glue behind. It’s clear the glue was brushed (broomed?) on and it’s astonishingly sticky. I don’t want to tread clay and metal swarf into carpet tile but nor do I want a gross, sticky floor.

I’ve tried to see if it’s water soluble (it isn’t) and am hitting a dead end with Google searches (all my results are about how to remove link to put down carpet tiles). I don’t want to have to wash the whole thing in acetone and fear a paint stripper would melt the lino. I’m based in the U.K.

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jackdawson1049 t1_iuvvye7 wrote

Here in the states Home Depot sells a product that does what you want. Go to your local lumber yard and ask.

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gotBooched t1_iuw378g wrote

Man I had something similar and for the life of me could not get it up. Home built in 1978. It was the whole basement. I finally ended up just bleaching the whole thing 3x to make sure it was good and clean, vacuuming it a couple times and had carpet installed overtop of it. Wasn’t ideal, but nothing I tried would have gotten the glue up barring scrapping it inch by and and I wasn’t doing that

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gotBooched t1_iuw8jf9 wrote

Replying to 13fingerfx (#434,603)

I really struggled with the idea of leaving the glue down. FWIW after I cleaned the ever loving shit out of it (after scraping as much as possible), I’m at ease with it now.

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Unit61365 t1_iuwre7y wrote

If I was in your situation, and assuming the lino is not super uneven, I would clean up the glue best I can (sounds like you did that) and lay some of that inexpensive click-down floating flooring on top. It would come up easily later with no additional gluing, and looks pretty good. Lots of colors and styles to choose from.

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uneasyonion t1_iuwtt7f wrote

I little spritz of urine and you'll be a fantastic boy. ⛳️💎

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Big-Spend-2915 t1_iuwys80 wrote

Not being familiar with what is used where your at, but I am going to bet that the linoleum is going to need to come up along with its subfloor.
New subfloor put down, then new flooring. Another option is new subfloor on top of that now, then new flooring on the new subfloor.
That glue is going to be hard to get up. Almost always it involves nasty Chemicals, heat and lots of being on hands and knees, aching back, putty knives getting glue that won't come off consistently and it needs cleaning.
Just way easier to do the other 2 ways. And faster.

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13fingerfx OP t1_iuwzilc wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#435,242)

The room has large glass walls that have been installed over the lino but before the carpet. I want to keep them and removing the lino around them feels like a nightmare.

The winner so far, if the removers don’t prove miraculous, is the clip together wooden over floor to put over the top.

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vertigo72 t1_iuy5wyt wrote

Goof Off. It's an adhesive remover. Found anywhere from HD, Lowes, Walmart, local hardware, etc

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Speshul-Ed t1_iuyt6ib wrote

There are electric floor buffers that might be strong enough to strip the glue off the lino surface. The buffers have pads that vary in degree of abrasives. Old school lino gets pretty hard over time, so the glue may just polish right off.

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