Simply remove carpet adhesive - from wood, concrete & Co

• Material and preparation
• Costs and prices
• Remove carpet adhesive
• Tips for quick readers

There is hardly a task for the handyman that is even more troublesome than the removal of carpet glue. It does not matter whether you need to remove carpet adhesive from the wooden floor or screed surface. If the adhesive sticks really well, then it is difficult to remove. What tricks are there for an easier removal of carpet glue, is here.

In many apartments and houses is still an old carpet, which should perhaps be replaced by laminate or a new carpet. But the residents are afraid to rip out the ground, fearing that they will not be able to remove the glue or that it will be difficult to remove it. Especially on wood, it is often not possible to go so roughly and brutally to the removal of the glue, as it should be. Depending on which floor is to be laid subsequently, however, it is essential to remove any residue of the adhesive. We show you how it works.

Material and preparation

You need this:

• spatula
• hand clap
• Knife for hand stripper
• Deltaschleifer
• oscillating saw / multi tool
• Stripper attachment for oscillating saw
• sander
• Random Orbit Sander
• wire brush
• bucket
• scrubbing brush
• rough brush
• broom
• Bodenwischer
• Mouthguard / Respiratory Mask
• abrasive paper
• grinding plates
• dish soap

Costs and prices

The biggest expense is the time it takes to remove the glue. That's why you'd better remove the glue yourself. A craftsman who settles on the basis of hourly wage, could lead to unpleasant surprises.

• Handstripper electrically new from 500 Euro
• Handstripper electrically used from 300 euros
• Spare knife for hand stripper from 30 Euro
• oscillating saw / multitool / multi tool for do-it-yourselfers from 30 Euro
• Orbital sander DIY tool from 20 Euro
• Eccentric sander home improvement from 40 Euro
• Handstripper - loaner from the hardware store from about 30 euros per day

Handstripper - DIY tools

The term hand stripper may be a bit misleading, because it is a relatively expensive electrical device on which a broad knife blade moves. Basically, the hand stripper works like a spatula with drive - only better and easier. However, good strippers cost from about 500 euros upwards. Even used devices are usually only from 300 euros on eBay again. Alone a new knife for the device costs already over 30 euros. Therefore, it is not necessarily useful for home improvement, to buy a stripper especially for this one work. However, some hardware stores give strippers by the hour or by the day.

Tip: Similar to a hand stripper, an oscillating scraper works on a multi-tool. The oscillating saw is available from just 30 euros in the trade. Depending on the size of the accessories, however, the multi-tool can also cost 100 euros. Often, however, the higher price is worthwhile, because the extensive accessories individually will cost significantly more.

However, there are also small hand scrapers, which are referred to as handstrippers. Since these little devices can not do anything else, they are not nearly as useful as the multitool, especially because they cost at least the same. For very large areas, there are heavy duty stripper designs that have wide blades and are more likely to be used in large industrial buildings. However, some hardware stores also lend these devices weighing at least 50 kilos.

Tip: Also for the small delta sanders, there are often scraping knives that can be easily attached. They are basically worked out just like the scrapers on the multi tool.

Remove carpet adhesive

Sometimes you are lucky and the glue has already dissolved or has simply dried up. Many a glue has already been swept away with a broom because it was dried up to crumbles. Very small stains with the remainder of the adhesive can be removed from concrete well with a wire brush and then sweep with the broom.

1. Determine the underground

When deciding which tool to use, it is important to know which substrate is available. If you want to expose a wooden floor, which will then remain visible and work up, you will inevitably have to work much gentler and gentler. With a heavy stripper, you could possibly put ugly scratches and streaks in the wood. Therefore, you can choose and purchase the right tool only if you know what you are dealing with.

Tip: Do not just check what's really under the carpet before you go shopping, but also use a spatula to test whether the glue can be removed by hand.

2. Expose the concrete floor

If you do not want to accidentally coat the screed later on, you can use an eccentric grinder and very coarse sandpaper to work against hard glue residues. Some types of glue dry out so hard they look like molten plastic is on the floor. These residues are difficult to remove even with a stripper.

Some adhesives are water-soluble and can be removed with moisture. On a concrete floor, this is relatively easy with a scrubber and some detergent solution. Do not pour too much detergent into the water and moisten the glue residue well. Let the glue soak for half an hour. Similar to the removal of glue on the wall, the wet removal of glue also helps to raise the temperature of the water. Subsequently, the glue is swept in the best case only with the coarse scrubber.

Some do-it-yourselfers recommend warming the old glue with a hot air blower and then scraping it off with the spatula. Although most adhesives dissolve better due to the heat, many are also flammable and can catch fire during the action. Especially if the glue tends to become flaky, some of the loose glue can be absorbed by the hair dryer. So you should not try this.

3. Remove glue from wooden floor

Thick glue residue can be easily removed from a wooden floor with the scraper on the multi tool. A thin layer of the adhesive will usually remain on the surface. This does not bother, if the wood is then covered with another floor covering again. If the wood is to remain visible, it should be sanded down carefully in several sanding cycles.

Tip: If you want to remove the adhesive on large wood surfaces and want to work up the uncovered wood anyway, you should borrow a large cylindrical grinder or floor grinder at the hardware store. You will then have only one more sanding cycle than usual to sand the glue.

If possible, always connect the vacuum cleaner to the respective sanding tools when sanding off adhesives. The dust of the glue and possibly of old wood varnish is not very healthy, so you should also always wear respiratory protection.

Tips for quick readers

• Determine the surface under the carpet
• Carefully and gently work the wooden floor
• Scrape off adhesive residue with spatula and coarse brush
• If necessary, clean the concrete floor with rinsing water and a scrubber
• Scrape off small remains on concrete with a wire brush
• Electric scraper / stripper pushes away adhesive residue
• remove cured adhesive with eccentric sander
• Wear mouthguards when grinding off adhesive residue
• work large wood surfaces with floor grinder