Need to remove carpet pad.

[Revenant]

Hey guys (and gals).

 

My wife and I decided to pull up the decades old carpet in our dining room, as we know there was hard wood floor underneath (same as in the computer room). Computer room carpet and pad came up very clean, and simple. The dining room carpet however, is older and thinner.

 

Here's our dilema:

 

It looks like the carpet pad was glued down to the wood floor, or that it's so old it's become attached. We've tried scraping it off with a putty knife, but there is still a grey residue to it that doesn't come off easily.

 

Does anyone have suggestions on how to remove this? We only attempted on a 2x2 section... the whole room is close to 14x14.

 

Thanks for any tips

 

Rev

[docwarren]

Floor Sander. Strip down & stain. Pretty easy to do. Can rent sanders from most hardware stores. Invest in a respirator mask during the sanding. Works better than the N95 masks they say are enough and are easier to breath through.

[Revenant]

Thanks doc - I'll look into that. Trying to find a solution that can be done in spurts and will be fairly safe. We have 7 cats, so it would be difficult to keep them out of the working area while sanding etc.

[Artos]

I have done professional carpet an tile cleaning as well as restoration. Havent touched wood but from what one of my mentors told me, not much we can do but I did work with my brother in doing his floors an Doc's recommendation is exactly what did when we worked on it. An the floor came out beautiful.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Artos

[Rabidraccoon]

Have you tried a hair dryer or heat gun? It probably is just fused to the wood through age. If it's glue, try acetone in a small area to see if it comes up. Or... just put in ne w carpet. LOL

[Revenant]

I don't have a heat gun, but I can try the hair dryer this weekend. Thanks Raccoon. I'll let you all know how well it works.

[beedub]

Not sure if it will work because I can't see the floor, but have you tried any of the paint/stain stripping solvents? I have used some of them before (sorry can't remember the name), you just brush it on, let it sit for a while, and then scrape it off. Certainly it will take off your finish too, but I think that is coming off no matter what. This is something you could do in small areas, and over a period of time.