# Flooring redo



## Swampmamma (Feb 14, 2007)

Had to rip up floor in my daughters room due to a leak in the bathroom. 

What's next? What's the best way to get this tar up?? TIA


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## Swampmamma (Feb 14, 2007)

Floor pics


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## 3reds (Feb 7, 2007)

Is that a hardwood floor and are you going to sand and finish the floor or go over the top with something else?


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## Swampmamma (Feb 14, 2007)

3reds said:


> Is that a hardwood floor and are you going to sand and finish the floor or go over the top with something else?[/QUOTE
> 
> That's concrete. I need to find out how to get the tar up so that whatever we put on top is level..I guess? What you see a little of before you enter the room is hardwood original to the house but that's not what was in the room. That bathroom has Leaked before and caused floor problems so there was some tongue and groove style flooring I pulled out. I'm also trying to figure out what would be best to put down in case we have this problem again.


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## 3reds (Feb 7, 2007)

You can rent them at Home Depot and . you can rent the buffer there too.
They make the diamabrush tools for contrete and for wood floors too.


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## daddyeaux (Nov 18, 2007)

It is going to take a lot of elbow grease to get that slab clean. As mentioned rent a floor sander and go to town.


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## Jmandel1218 (Nov 6, 2018)

The ‘tar’ you are talking about is the old cut back glue they used in the old days. Best way to remove it is to sprinkle dry mortar mix on top of it, a light coat, and get after it with a floor scraper. It’s labor intensive and there is no easy way to do it, short of renting a shot machine of some kind. You could cap the floor with a leveler like ‘ Plani patch ‘ also. Good luck


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

That looks like tar that was used to hold down wooden screeds for true wood floors. If so, good luck. It is tough.

Google floor mastic remover. There are a lot of options there. If it is black cut back mastic, they will work, maybe the tar as well but unlikely. I can't recommend one, but there are some pro grade solvents that asbestos abatement crews use to remove hot mastic. Don't remember which one is commonly used.


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## Swampmamma (Feb 14, 2007)

RB II said:


> That looks like tar that was used to hold down wooden screeds for true wood floors. If so, good luck. It is tough.
> 
> Google floor mastic remover. There are a lot of options there. If it is black cut back mastic, they will work, maybe the tar as well but unlikely. I can't recommend one, but there are some pro grade solvents that asbestos abatement crews use to remove hot mastic. Don't remember which one is commonly used.


Well I still haven't tackled the project but it still needs to be done. There were true hardwood floors in this room at one time. 
Since I'll be the one doing the work I want to get around trying to get the junk up. I think adding some kind of leveler sounds great! Something I can pour and smooth out. I'm going to look into options for this...thanks! Plani patch is where I'll start reading.


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

CrappieGirl said:


> Well I still haven't tackled the project but it still needs to be done. There were true hardwood floors in this room at one time.
> Since I'll be the one doing the work I want to get around trying to get the junk up. I think adding some kind of leveler sounds great! Something I can pour and smooth out. I'm going to look into options for this...thanks! Plani patch is where I'll start reading.


There are a ton of self leveling compounds for flooring, but you don't want to add a bunch of extra height to that area of the floor. If possible, you need to try and get as much of the tar/mastic up as possible, then level over it. Good luck. Some of the old stuff that they used wasn't meant to be taken up.........EVER. Sorry.


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## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

I have dealt with this. 

Back in the day they would use tar to lay screeds and then nail the tongue and groove flooring the the screeds. It's a pain to get the tar up. 

Near the walls I would spend the time scraping the tar up best I could and lay a new screed with a ramset concrete nail gun. Then I would nail new screeds next to where the old ones were. Essentially filling in the places where there were no screeds originally.

Then go with old school tongue and groove flooring. Don't waste your time getting the old tar up and just lay new screeds next to it, install new tongue and groove flooring and be done with it.

It's not that hard and it will match the rest of the house. I even have a ramset concrete nail gun and a pneumatic flooring nailer you can borrow. Shoot me a PM...


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## daddyeaux (Nov 18, 2007)

Just a heads up. You will not be able to remove it 100%. The floor is still going to look dark. But when you are finished scraping then skim float the floor with an Ardex or Uzin floor prep. It will cover what ever is left and provide a good bonding surface for the new flooring. A good ceramic or porcelain floor is what I would put in a bathroom. Leaks don't hurt them.


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## AG2009 (Dec 17, 2018)

I've useddawn dish soap and boiling water. Then I would scrap the floor over and over. It helps looses the the bond from the floor... though its messy and does take some cussing to get through it it does help alot.


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## MLBB (Dec 2, 2018)

Ok I tackled this very stuff with my floor. I pulled up all the old screeds(2x4â€™s) that was tarred down, put pressure treated 2x4â€™s back with a hilti gun the next layer 3/8 plywood down, then vapor barrier, then bamboo hard wood floor.

I used the 3/8 plywood because after adding the bamboo it came out to the same height as the original hardwood floor so the doors would open.


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## kawboy (May 6, 2017)

I had the same thing black tar glue. I went and bought some stuff from home depot like 50 bucks a gallon. before I got started I opened a bottle of pine o pine to offset the smell and accidentally kicked it over. when I went to wipe it up the tar glue came right up with it. cleaned it to bare concrete. Got my 50 bucks back and bought more pine o pine. Don't know if they make it anymore.


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## mario8402 (Apr 15, 2010)

I have done this. Its not fun and it takes forever. I rented a wall paper steamer and used a razer blade scraper like this 
https://www.homedepot.com/p/QEP-4-in-Wide-Razor-Scraper-and-Stripper-62900Q/100194275
the one I used had a handle or ball on the top so you could really push down on it.

I was able to get it all of the floors and spotless without creating a dusty mess or chemical smell since we had a newborn at the time. Just took 12" squared at a time 

https://www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=2117210


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