Prep basement floor for epoxy paint

[Stan Krupowies]

OK, I was thinking about using vinyl tile on my floor but comments made here have made me rethink that idea. I'm now going to go with epoxy paint. The floor currently has a carpet with a pad that was placed with some kind of adhesive - I'm thinking a spray adhesive of some sort. It was done about 8 years ago and I wasn't in the house at the time so I don't know the type.

My question is - does anyone have any suggestions for getting that adhesive off the floor? I was thinking about renting a floor sander but I think the belts would wear out pretty quickly on the concrete, same for a hand held belt sander. The floor is about 250 sf so using something like acetone without getting high doesn't seem likely and being in a basement (with no floor drain) using some other liquid that would need to be rinsed is not really doable either.

Any help is appreciated.

Stan

[ian maybury]

Hi Stan, that's quite a tough one. You hear solvents like acetone and lacquer/cellulose thinners recommended, but as you say it's hard to see how it could safely (re. fire and breathing the solvent) do the job in an enclosed area. Even if it dissolves the cement it may well just dry again.

It doesn't sand, it'll just clog anything you can throw at it.

Most contact adhesives are not waterproof. I wonder if a steam cleaner (something industrial that can get a decent area really hot and wet at once, not a mouse power carpet cleaner or whatever) or if the situation allows maybe even just lots of hot water plus a sharp scraper on a pole?

More aggressive and very dirty would be some sort of concrete grinder, but I'd stay well away except as an absolute last resort as it's incredibly difficult to stop the dust getting past any sort of seals you might put on a room - and if it gets near machines or equipment it seizes everything up.

ian

[Jay Runde]

I've used goof off and seemed to work pretty good. Ours was only glued down around the edge of the room.

[Phil Thien]

I had to use a grinder w/ diamond wheel. I got one made by Bosch that connected to a shop vac for extraction.

[Stan Krupowies]

I've used goof off and seemed to work pretty good. Ours was only glued down around the edge of the room.

This was glued around the edges of the padding which was only 6' wide so it's around the perimeter of the room and a couple strips in the middle of the room. I'm going to give the Goof Off a shot and see how that works. If I had the head room I would put sleepers and plywood down but, especially under ductwork, I can't spare even 2 1/4".