Remove Backing From Hardwood Floor

Rugs with latex backings can stick to your flooring leaving behind a big mess when the rug is removed.

Remove backing from hardwood floor. I recently borrowed a little portable steamer from a friend to remove masking tape on wood floors. Removing rubber carpet back from cement floor. The tape had been along the floor moldings i painted years ago. The hardwood looked fine but a different kind of rubbery carpet padding had been used in the room.

And instead of coming right up most of the padding was cemented to the floor. For removing staples or tacks get a pair of vise grips pliers that lock in place grip the staple and slowly roll it back. The wood floor covering association doesn t recommend putting any type of carpeting with a rubber backing on your wood floor and if you re looking for a way to get the dried latex off your floor you probably know why it doesn t make that recommendation. Sand off old carpet backing.

Remove the underlying paper backing and or adhesive. How to remove dried latex backing from a floor. Gently use a floor scraper to remove the rest of it. I was a bit nervous at the thought of trying it on my hardwood flooring but at this point i didn t have anything to lose.

To remove adhesive from a hardwood floor bring a pot of water to a boil. Then we discovered the floor in our son s bedroom. Soak some old towels in the water and then place them on the adhesive. In my case it was rusted narrow staples in some of the toughest hardwood you can get some will break and you have to just punch them down before sanding.

In many cases it may be more appropriate to remove the backing by sanding with a floor sander or a floor buffer and a 36 grit sanding screen. 09 16 2007 by leona labine. If i couldn t get this stuck on rubber latex from the deteriorated rug backing off the hardwood flooring i was going to have to have the floor screened and re polyed anyway maybe even refinished. To remove any remaining backing apply heat to the floor in small sections using a wallpaper steamer a heat gun or even a hair dryer.

If you can find a long handled scraper the kind they use to remove tile it will save on your back. Hardwood flooring makes a welcome addition to any home but it can be daunting to deal with once it s time to remove or replace it. The results were great in our daughter s bedroom and not so shabby in the hall and the master bedroom.