Cleaning mastic off the cement floor.

[Howard Barlow]

LOML wants me to remove old linoleum squares from the kitchen floor (concrete) and do something with the concrete...stain, paint, whatever. She's been watching too much HGTV.

Is there any non-thermonuclear method for getting the old mastic off the floor completely? Will muriatic acid take it off? You want to do this and get on her Christmas card list?

[Bob Boake]

I used a product called sentinal 737 to remove adhesive from floors. It will get most but not all residue off the floor. If you want concrete to take stain evenly then you need to take abrasives to it and grind off the top skin of the concrete. I have a friend that stains concrete for a living and he has a sub go in before him to grind the floor with a specialized machine. He uses an acid stain and cuts kerf marks in the floor to create patterns. I think there is a learning curve knowing how long to let the stain set and how intense the color etc.

[Howard Barlow]

Thanks, Bob.