Removing carpet that's been glued to the floor

[blueone97]

Hi guys, need a bit of advice please.
I've taken up the carpet in my flat (2 bedrooms, hall and lounge) but it has been glued to the concrete floor! When I pull the carpet up, which is difficult enough, it leaves a layer of foam/rubber still on the floor.
I've been using a floor scraper but it's a bh to get off! It's taken me ages to do half of the smallest room and I'm dreading doing the bigger bedroom and the lounge!
Any ideas of a better way to do it? or is there some sort of solvent I can put down to make it a bit easier?

[singlecoil]

The best way to do this is with a Fein Multimaster and a plain blade. The blade vibrates from side to side so quickly that the rubber or whatever can't keep up, and gets cut instead. Bosch do a cheaper version.

[bull996]

Whatever way you use, its hard work.

[singlecoil]

This is the machine you need
http://www.axminster.co.uk/fein-fein-multimaster-r...

and this is the type of blade, expect it to be quite well worn by the time you have finished
http://www.axminster.co.uk/fein-fein-multimaster-r...

Not hard work to do it this way, but still quite slow, and an investment of about £170.

You might want to experiment with some solvent, best bet would be cellulose thinners, obviously you will need to cope with the fumes, and the smell can be quite persistent. You can buy small cans (for initial experimentation) at decorators' suppliers.

[dickymint]

Decent long handled floor scraper. Keep it sharp. Hard graft I'm afraid.

[blueone97]

dickymint said:

Decent long handled floor scraper. Keep it sharp. Hard graft I'm afraid.

Yeah thought so. That's what I'm using, its brand new and sharp but it's still very hard to get off. Some areas are glued down so much that you cant get the scraper underneath the rubber so you end up sort of sanding it down until you get to the floor. nightmare!
I don't really want to spend a lot of money on other tools. Just wondered if anyone knew of a solvent or something I could put down to loosen the glue? I was thinking about putting down some white spirit but thought someone might know of something more specific?

[singlecoil]

blueone97 said:

Just wondered if anyone knew of a solvent or something I could put down to loosen the glue? I was thinking about putting down some white spirit but thought someone might know of something more specific?

singlecoil said:

You might want to experiment with some solvent, best bet would be cellulose thinners, obviously you will need to cope with the fumes, and the smell can be quite persistent. You can buy small cans (for initial experimentation) at decorators' suppliers.

HTH

[blueone97]

ah yeah, missed that bit, cheers mate

[Stu 9-5]

Just lay the new flooring over the top? Decent underlay will disguise the irregularities beyond the keenest of eyes and you'll probabbly need to shave a few mm from the bottom of your doors, but you'd have the desired result in an afternoon.

[blueone97]

I would do but the layer of rubber is quite patchy. some areas the rubber has come right off with the carpet where it wasn't glued enough. The guy who came round to measure for the carpets said that over time it'll create dips in the carpet so it's best to scrape it all off. Think I just need to mtfu and start scraping!.. or burn it off!

[Mr Pointy]

Would a hot air gun help to soften the glue?

[singlecoil]

Mr Pointy said:

Would a hot air gun help to soften the glue?

In my experience, no, but the OP should definitely try it just in case it works for him. Even if it does, though, hot gunning that large an area would take a LONG time.