0

I am trying to remove the carpet and its underlay from the living room because it is very old (over 20 years I guess).

The underlay is terribly stuck to the concrete floor. It looks like it has been glued but as it is very old, it is crumbling and there also scraping it it is very hard.

I have tried with a long handle scraper, hot water, heater to warm it up, but it is very hard to remove it. In the last hour I have progressed only 30 cm!

Any suggestion of how to remove it? Any solvent which can soften it a bit?

Thanks

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    Pictures would help. What's the blade on your scraper? You can often buy/rent floor scrapers made for this purpose that have a sharp blade that works really well in these situations, assuming it's typical carpet glue.
    – Milwrdfan
    Commented Mar 4 at 23:08
  • Avoid toxic solvents. Depending on area size, a block of dry ice might help make it brittle, so that backing can be scraped off.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented Mar 4 at 23:22
  • May want to consider a wire cup brush, like that which you can stick into an electric drill.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Mar 5 at 13:33

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

A tungsten-carbide bladed scraper is the way I've removed glued-down carpet underlayment.

It's not easy, but it works. Steel scraper blades dull in short order.

Improve this answer
0

Having this same problem at the moment. Using a garden hoe with its edge ground to a chisel point works quite well. Having a long handle means you can apply some force to it. Use a file to sharpen the edge when it gets dull.

Good luck

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.