This Is The BEST TOOL For Glued-Down Flooring! (Carpet Removal/Floor Adhesive Removal)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 พ.ค. 2021
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QEP 14” FLOOR SCRAPER
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I recently had to take up the glued-down carpet in my new shop space. This is never a pleasant task--but I couldn't believe how difficult it was to remove this particular carpet!
The original adhesive was still very effective in parts of the floor. Removing the carpet and getting down to something like the original slab took several hours over two days.
It's best to cut carpet into smaller squares with a sharp utility knife (carefully!) Pull carpet sections up from two sides, if possible, with a sawing motion.
When carpet or flooring sticks this badly, though, you need to bring tools into the picture. An 8" hard scraper was the best thing I found for a carpet this stubborn. You can swipe it under the edges with speed and force, and slowly get a portion of the carpet lifted.
Once the carpet was pulled up around the room, I then had to deal with at least some of the adhesive still down on the floor. Sometimes, if dry and brittle, this adhesive can be scraped up with an 8" razor scraper. But, this adhesive was still too stubborn.
In the end, I had to use a low-VOC flooring stripper. I didn't document this much, because it's a dangerous chemical process. (I'll work with a flooring company in the future for this.)
But, it still makes a horrible mess. In this case, I found that a 14" hard scraper was better to cover more surface area. I added sawdust to the floor at times just to cut down on the residue left behind.
In the end the shop got cleared and everything swept out the door. It was tedious, but I'm not ready for the rest of the shop build.
Thanks for watching! Be sure to visit us at The Honest Carpenter website:
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To get difficult glued down carpet up. You have to put on your knee pads and get a bunch of blades ready for your knife. Simply go up and down the room cutting in one foot strips. Just press the knife down hard into the concrete and keep going. The blade will be done after one pass. Change your blade and keep doing it across the room. Then you grab one piece of the rug and you'll only have the tension of a 12-in slice of carpet. Pick it up. Then walk with it and tear it off the floor. We've had to rip up carpet that was glued down the previous day. We had to cut it into three inch strips in order to rip it up.
Anyhow as far as the glue on the floor. That's crazy taking the glue up. Vacuum the floor real well, then use floor leveler... two thin coats. It's Portland base and pretty hard. The glue is usually stuck to the floor so well that putting the floor leveler over the top is just fine. Anyhow I wish you posted this before you started the job I could have saved you a big filthy mess and a lot of backbreaking tearout.
Your channel is great. You've given me lots of helpful hints. I wish I could have returned the favor before you started this job.
Man, I wish I'd talked to you before this! I couldn't tell if I was cutting too much or too little, but seeing how those 3' strips came up pretty easily, I realize I probably should have just slashed the whole room like you said.
It seemed like high traffic areas came up a lot easier (I guess the glue broke down over time), but corners and nooks around the room were grueling.
I hadn't even thought of using leveler! I rent this space--I would have had to get permission. But they probably would have let me. I've leveled a handful of bathrooms and it just solves so many problems at once. Thanks for all the advice!
I had this horrible job to do as well but with linoleum glued down. Your video brought back some exhausting memories LOL! My final strike - I used self leveling concrete and wa-lah, I was done!! I wouldn’t scrape glue up again in my lifetime!!
@@TheHonestCarpenter not to worry. I'm sure you haven't seen the last of glued down carpet!
It's not "wa-lah".
It's "voilà".
"Wa-lah" is gibberish.
I worked for a flooring company when I was younger, this is hands down the worst, most grueling job I can think of. Cutting the carpet/vinyl into workable strips as @@gundersonflooringanddesign4064 mentioned is the most efficient method. The width of your strips will be determined by the strength of the adhesive. There is also a tool, similar to a hardwood floor sander (but much heavier), that has a metal disc with many 1/2 inch scraping heads/teeth on it. Doesn't always work on all adhesives though. Thanks for the video Ethan, it brings back many dreaded memories haha. Kind regards from Western Australia.
I've done this kind of job with carpet or vinyl hundreds of times. Here are some pro tips.
1. This will sound counter intuitive but take the time to cut it up into as small sections as time allows. The smaller the sections, the less glue you are fighting when you are pulling on it.
2. Use a hook blade on your knife. The hook blade pulls itself down into the work so you don't have to push it down. Makes a world of difference.
3. Use a heat gun in the areas where the glue is very stubborn. Be very careful with carpet though as it can catch fire. I recommend having a water extinguisher at hand.
4. Lightly dampen the carpet before you start work. This will minimise the amount of dust that becomes airborne.
Thank you, Mek! These are all great tips. I had wondered if hook blades would help 🙂
@@TheHonestCarpenter You're welcome. The hook blades also don't go dull after every cut because the tip doesn't come in contact with the concrete.
@@TheHonestCarpenter heat gun for sure... I'm pulling up an old glued down carpet at my parents house (older than i am). I pull the carpet up (with vice grips).
Then I have my dad sitting in a chair waving a heat gun over the glue. While I use a long handle scraper similar to yours.
This part is where you save your back and joints... Just lean into the scraper with constant push (no jabbing/stabbing) and let the heat gun do the work for you.
@@squirts1 thanks for the tip. I have to remove glued down carpet in my grandparents basement.
How about carpet tiles
I have been using that 14" scraper since 1995. It got up tile flooring like a dream.
It also has been the best way to chop ice and scrape sidewalks in the winter. The blade vibrates when chopping ice which breaks it up. I also use it for edging my sidewalks in the summer too.
The tool I used to pull up seriously glued down linoleum was an electric scraper we rented from Home Depot. It uses a sharp blade and once you get the blade between the flooring and the foundation, it lifts and curls it like shaved chocolate! I think it would work on glued down carpet as well as long as it was precut into reasonable strips. HD provided me with a new blade and I got up about 1500 sq ft before I needed a new blade.
You did a good job here with that nasty carpet, Honest Carpenter! It can be backbreaking work.
Hey that's progress, good to see it. I hung a bunch of lights today but yesterday was fixing 20 years of DYI homeowner wiring including a bunch of really messed up work done by the original electricians. Tomorrow is about prepping a chicken coop for paint and finally hanging new gutters. I do a bit of everything because I've done a lot of everything in the past. :)
You were determined & you did it!! Congratulations on accomplishing such a nightmare task . It started a great conversation.Good luck with your new shop. I'm looking forward to each new video!
I worked on a commercial office space renovation job back in the 80's. The main area was an old cubicle farm where all the partitions had been removed, and all that was left was the carpet. It was cheap, low pile / high traffic stuff that was all but impossible to remove because it had been installed using black mirror adhesive. It took the laborers days to get it up, but there was one tiny patch that came up easy because there was no glue underneath it. In that spot, the installer had drawn a smiley face, and written "Ha, ha! Bet you guys had fun removing THIS carpet!"
That's hysterical!
Ethan, like anything else, the harder you have to work to put your new shop together to your satisfaction then the prouder and happier you will be with the end product. Everything will take time and effort, but just keep at it. Nice start in this video.
The Honest Carpenter
Dave, you are the man. From listening to you. It sounds like you've done this a time or two. I've only done it once, helping a friend. Who said how easy it was. Never again. Otherwise, thank you for another Great Video.
I’m a 40 year old lawyer who is clumsy and has no business handling construction, but I just bought a forever home with my gf and I want to fix it up. I also gotta put my man pants on.
Thank you in advance for posting all these videos about safety and likely saving me from certain death and my future offspring from becoming orphans.
If you gonna “put your man pants on”, whatcha doing’ w/ a gf? Why she’s not your bride???
I love this person's stuff because always honest !!!
Thanks for sharing your journey of the new shop.
Nice video. I had a floor scraping job that destroyed two types of manual scrapers and also destroyed a new scraper blade in my demo saw. The job entailed removing old glued down vinyl tile on a concrete floor after having already removed a layer of glued down carpet tile. I needed a tool that was narrow and heavy. My wrist are to old to handle pushing a scraper. I took a $6.00 masons chisel cut the head off ground a 30 sharp edge on it and stuck it inside the end of a 5' section of 1" heavy duty metal pipe. I then hammered the end of the pipe flat against the shoulders of the chisel. This tool made short work of the job
and was very easy on my wrist because it was heavy enough to let the tool do the work.
I worked for a carpet company, as a young man. We had a glue down removal, once at a club. It was brutal! We cut a lot of strips, and tried to use as little force as possible. It was an all day project.
Congratulations on the move. Always your vids are providential timing and relevant information.
I Wished I knew about this tool for my mom’s glue from hardwood floor after Harvey’s hit in 2017!! Thanks for the vid- great stuff as always! 👍
Thank you, Diane! Harvey messed up a whooooole lot of floors in NC. I had already moved from the coast by that point, but I heard afterwards that contractors were booked out for years down there.
Appreciate you showing us your challenges with the new property. Looking forward to future videos!!
First off, use a hook blade in your knife and it will cut MUCH easier.
If you are doing it alone, cut the carpet into about 6-8 inch wide strips. If you have help, you can sometimes get away with 2 foot wide strips.
You can also use Vise Grips/locking pliers to aid in gripping the carpet. Double the carpet over or even wrap it on a short piece of 1x2.
You can usually get a good idea of what you are up against by pulling back a corner and looking at the glue.
Yellow glue = depending on traffic the carpet has seen, is usually not too bad.
Green glue = Eat your Wheaties and clear the calendar. Or just call a professional with a machine
Black glue = STOP!!!! Have it checked for asbestos before you do anymore. This usually only shows up under older vinyl or composite flooring, but it might be under some old carpet.
Your right about the black glue but as a 20+ year pro I can tell we looked forward to seeing it. And ripped it up by the truck loads all over the place all you need is a scrape and it pops right up.
When I replaced my brother's kitchen floor I got varying widths of scraper blades made to use in a reciprocating saw, had to work on my knees but it was the cheapest option for a powered scraper. Worked pretty well.
Somebody else mentioned those scrapers, Ender. I haven't even seen them. I've got to check them out--recip saw is probably one of the few tools with enough power to really be effective here. I've got a good Milwaukee to try next time...
@@TheHonestCarpenter Please contact me. I have a design for a tool I came up with. I want to share it with you. Perhaps you could build the first one. It is not patented. I don't think I can afford to make it or patent it right now.
Welcome to Greensboro! Say hi if you shop for plants at West Elmsley Lowe’s !
Thank you, Margaret :) I'll do that!
Bought the scraper while watching your video. Made quick work of 400 sq ft of glued down commercial carpet two days later. The Honest Carpenter is in my head!
That’s awesome, Center Creek! I’m glad it worked so well 😄
I'm a maintenance guy fighting with this crap at work right now. Believe it or not, vinegar and seriously hot water actually work fairly well to soften the left over glue up too if you don't want to use chemicals. Btw, sounds like you moved down the road from my old home town. If you're into fishing or boating, you should check out Belews lake if you haven't already.
Thanks Ethan, good advice... blessings and Prayers for you new move and ventures...
I worked for a wood floor company and after we pulled up the carpet, we taped off every door and vent and used a large disk sander with a rough grit to get all the glue up. Then went over it with a finer grit to smooth it out before we put down a wood floor. The sander worked very well at removing the old glue but you’d only get about a 4 to 5 foot square area done before you’d have to change disks.
I'm not sure when the carpet was put down, but some adhesives give off toxic fumes! That's why you did the right thing by getting a respirator.
You're right, Debbie. It just turns into an uncontrolled chemistry experiment at some point. I kept plenty of air flow, but you never know what you're breathing. Better safe than sorry!
Just want to add that respirators help with some things, but not all harmful things from being breathed in. Dust and aerosols usually get blocked but many chemical gasses can still pass through. Ventilation is key. High powered fans at open doors. Its best to have twice the airflow exiting as you do incoming to ensure the gasses want to leave the space.Stay safe everyone.
You NEVER know what is in a floor like that.
Hey I’m from NC too! Never realized that you were. Thank you for your videos
Thanks Russell! Happy to hear from fellow NC natives 🙂
I’ve done a job like this and relied on using a knife the entire time. Next time would definitely try your method!
I had a similar experience removing the lino from our kitchen and utility room. It only went down 8 years ago but it was glued down everywhere. It took me 3 long back breaking evenings to cut the lino and scrape all the glue up, the glue being the really time consuming thing. Maybe glue dissolver would have been better but I didn't know about that
Congrats on your new space. I'm going to be interested in what you do with it over the years ahead
The best tool I've ever seen is a 2'x2' weighted box that has adjustable teeth like a carpet kicker, a wench attached to it with another weighted toothed box they attach to each other!!! Then you cut strips and turn the wench on! It pulls itself together and takes the carpet with. The glue comes off (concrete) with a light citric acid mixture and scraper! Then just rinse and your ready for new finish! Or rinse and leave bare. I've used this method on many commercial jobs and it has always worked better than any other method! (Better than some junior boys and a little $$$) lol!
What’s the device called?
Well that looked like a lot of fun. Good luck
Thanks for telling it like it is! Best of luck in Greensboro.
Hey my niece and her family live in Greensboro - great place you’ll love it. Tips: Narrow strips. If you have to do it manually I’m talking 12-18” strips max. That said no way would I have tried that without a power floor scraping machine. Most have a 6-8” wide blade like your hard scraper and would have made quick work of that job. All the rental yards have them for around $100/day. Properly set-up (you DO have to maintain the edge - it’s a cutting tool after all) the first pass would have had the bulk of carpet and glue up. You may have still needed some stripper, another pass or two and then hosing /mopping, etc to clean up residue, the but trust me it would have been much less painful than by hand. Half a day start to finish.
I just pulled up some glue down carpet on plywood. Used my Dewalt 4-1/2 20 volt circle saw with the blade put on backwards. Set the depth about 3/16” 8 was able to pull up 1 ft strips. (Much easier) you need to keep adjusting the depth till you get it just right. As I pulled it up I needed to also cut some fibers with the blade. Much easier then pulling it all at once..
A razor blade clamped into your oscillating multi tool is pretty boss for non-glued carpet. For glued stuff the other day, I cut the handle off an old mud scraper and clamped that in the multi tool. It was so loud so wear plugs, but it did the job way better than I could have by hand
A few years ago I used 'Bean e doo' to removed some black mastic in one of my basement bedrooms. It's a soybean based adhesive remover, worked like a charm and highly recommend.
Scrapers work fairly well. Did you ever think about renting a floor buffer with a scarifying pad for the last step?
The scraper he uses at the 3:00 minute mark has a triangle of rebar near the blade. That's for your foot. It makes it a lot easier and you don't get blisters on your hands from throwing a scraper all day
hooked roofing blades work really well for the carpet into strips. the knife edge is not riding on the concrete, so they do not dull as fast as regular blades
Apprecoate this vid. My heart goes out to you. Good info and advice. Thank you.
Thank you, Marmalade! :)
I'm always amazed at some of the things ppl glue down. 😥😥😥
Get a hand held jack hammer with a flat head for floor boards. Best way I know and I do demo.
Used to do shop fittings for a living the best thing for carpet removal was a scraper blade on a mango love from England 🏴
The 14" blade was the first one I bought and it worked great. But I still have some near the walls I can't reach and am thinking of renting the Eddy compact scraper to finish the job properly.
Depending on the type of surfaces you're working with, try dry ice on top to get the bonds to break in difficult spots.
Most interesting and good luck .
A lot of work at the beginning but at the end it pays off. Good luck you can do it!👍
Thanks wanda! More to come 😄
Hard work, good for you!
Thank you, Hassan!
Best of luck in your new space! I’ll look forward to your finishing approach. In regards to the remaining product in the concrete; I would rent a concrete floor grinder/polisher(the large type they use for garage floors). I would love to see you finish the floor in an epoxy (non-slip of course) so that it makes cleanup easy! Good luck!
we tried that but the glue clogged the diamond cutting surfaces and the unit just gided over the floor. 10 minutes of cleaning lead to plugging in 1 min and repeat. we used the floor grinder to level a hump inteh concrete floor, after removing the glue, and it worked like a charm on 'clean' cement.
I was thinking of starting to pull out the corners on the wall furthest from the door. Then, once you have enough pulled to make a bundle with the corner of the carpet, tie a rope around it and attach the other end to your tow hitch and put it in drive. Putting a softball inside the bundle might make it hold better.
Just a thought. Probably after an hour of not getting this to work I'd have to go back to your method : ) Great job although it looks like it a two Tylenol night.
I did this before in a 3000 sq ft area. Brutal job but I used an utility knife. I would like to see you put some epoxy on the floor!
I can't even imagine tackling a room that size, Terminator 😵 I know some good painters/epoxy specialists in my area that I'm going to cover those topics with soon!
Good job.
I'm in flooring and cutting it into strips is the best way to go is also a clamp that by pulling on it it gripped closed so you can just put that on the edge and then pull on it and it grips the carpet and pulls it up but basically that is the way to go there's not a lot of easy way around it you just have to cut it into strips and yank on it then go through with a scraper and clean up all the stuff that was left behind I don't know that that should take you a couple days though something like that is something I could have done before lunch
I’m working on a staircase and it’s tough to get a corner up on each step.. it’s back breaking but old carpet has to go! I don’t want to risk solvent with fumes, pets and it’s 2 degrees out/ so I don’t want to open all the doors! … I have the scraper, a blade & need the hook tool next! - I am cutting in strips but the stairs don’t want to give in easily! Any other thoughts?
@@PaintNParty to be honest there's not much you could do with solvents that crab sticks your best bet is going to be cutting it in the little strips if you don't have one of those clamps just take a five-in-one tool and a hammer and Hammer the five in one tool in between the carpet and the subfloor until you get a good little chunk to grab onto and if you can't really pull it up then cut it and do it thinner strip sometimes you might even need to go as thin as 2in but if you just do that it should pull up pretty easy as far as how disastrous it is underneath you can scrape it and use something like feather finish or mixing compound to give it kind of a new Surface or you could just get quarter inch wood and resurface it you plan on laying over it again if there's good hardwood Treads underneath then really just hitting it with a sander if you are careful is your next best option after you scrape it just go heavy grit and don't sit too much in one spot otherwise you'll dig a little divot and have extra sanding pads cuz you'll go through them quick
@@humboldtglitches9349 thank you SO much! Yes the 2 tools have helped a great deal! Then the sanding- I will get heavy grit ! Old like to poly it - then I have the small decorative carpet pieces so there’s a bit of grip- and for heat loss! I already love the crudy wood floor even before sanding! Slow process but it’s going to be worth it! It -2 here so INDOOR JOBS! Thank you again for your input! I need the pros to guide me! ~lucy
@@PaintNParty no problem man I'm glad I could help any other questions don't be shy and just because I have my opinion doesn't mean that it is the absolute perfect idea I just do this everyday again glad I could help and I hope your project turned out great and you see it for years to come that's the beauty of flooring for me
it is a great tool, not just for breaking ice, use it for similar things
I found the answer to this problem, vinegar, its working for me, amazing
All the best
Honest Carpenter,
The addition to an old farm house had linoleum glued to the slab like your carpet. W got the linoleum off with razor knives and short small pieces we pulled off. We finally got all of the glue off using 4 steam irons and a short floor scraper. Heat the glue with steam for 5 min, then scrape. We had to do this as the floor was too 'lumpy' before putting down a new floor.
We had 1000 sq ft old house with linoleum glued to plywood sub floor above old growth red pine. We used a circular saw to cut almost all of the subfloor in 12" squares and then a prybar to remove. And then had to remove 10,000 nails before refinishing the old growth wood.
Bloody hell mr you worked hard dam hard l no when I was shop fitting it was hard I am only a joiner I did do a course with karndean flooring but they didn’t tell you how to pull carpet up 🥺 so I take my hat off to you sir I bet you had a good night sleep that night 🤣 stay safe 👍👏👏
You can rent electric power floor scrapers from Home Depot for the day for a decent price. PRO Floor Stripper Rental
by General Equipment
This heavy-duty scraper capable of high volume removal of carpeting, underpadding, vinyl tiles, glue and parquet
Strength and productivity removes material exponentially faster and easier
Adjustable operator handle folds for easy transport 91.00 for the day I am in High Point NC so this equipment is local rental for the Greensboro store. Concert should be sealed your going to have moisture issues if you do not seal the floor properly.
They sell blades for oscillating tools that cut carpet easily 😎😍😎😍😎
I've got to find all the new blades these days, Ted! 😁
They are pointless if I try to use one of those at work it would only piss everybody off and make them make fun of me
I bought a flip house that had glued carpet over hardwood. I ended up using an electric hand planer to remove the glue from the hardwood. Fastest way I could figure to remove the glue. Hog it off in no time.
Was there a chance that the 30 year old glues and backing of the carpet may have tested positive for ACM (Asbestos containing material)? In New Zealand, if there is any unknown floor product to be removed it’s generally sampled and tested for ACM before removal.
I wonder if putting a solvent on the carpet would help. Maybe also a tool that grabs or hooks into the carpet, with a handle or rope for pulling. Or perhaps something that rocks near the tip for leverage. Or maybe a vibrating version of the scraper you liked, like a multi-tool. How about heat?
I have always applied heat to smaller objects with stubborn glue. I wonder if it would have been a good option here. Finally, would a concrete floor grinder have been a good tool to not only get rid of the remaining hardened glue, but also help level out some high spots, (if any)?
Oh my word, what a pain to remove. Hope you get it sorted soon....take care
The best tool I have found forglue down tile is dry ice. It work way better than heat. It freezes the adhesive so it breaks free with the least effort. I imagine it would work just as well on carpet.
Wet sanding/grinding the concrete works well for the adhesive. Keeps the dust down. Use cellulose insulation to absorb the water.
I'm exhausted from just watching that video. 😁
Carpet pullers make this sort of work so much easier. Using some large pliers can be a good substitute if you don't have any.
Wow I live in Greensboro I'll say hi if I see ya!
Concrete floor scrabbler machine to cut top layer off and have a nice exposed concrete with the Aggregetes showing
I would love if you walked us through a budget way to finished that concrete. I pulled some carpet up in my house and at the moment it’s just concrete floors. $3700 worth of LVP would solve the problem but I’d rather put some sweat equity into it and get a decent stained concrete finish if possible.
I was tought to cut tuff pieces in to strips about a foot and a half wide by about 30 feet, with the blade scraper
I must say I agree with the Gunderson Flooring and Design people. You kind of made a big mess. A floor sander is a better option. Skimming the floor is a totally better option once sanded. Plus you need portable vacuum to meet current OSHA code requirements. But I just love everything you are doing that is why I subscribed. The tips are great. I am a GC in Florida and a NACE Coating inspector. I hope this helps.
Nice
Thank you, Alonzo!
Did you think about pouring boiling hot water on carpet to dissolve the glue?
I do a lot of commercial carpentry and construction. I’ve used carpet winch things and automatic floor scraper.
If you are going to cut the carpet into little pieces, you can take locking pliers, and a wrecking bar, and clamp the capret to the wrecking bar, then use the wrecking bar to more easily peel up the carpet, using mechanical advantage. If you have many different lenths of bar, even better.
Just precut all that old carpet into 12’’ strips, use up 20 carpet blades. Then it’ll pull up in small strips with very little resistance.
Concrete grinder with commercial vac! (Maybe use the oscillating tool first...)
Slap on some garage floor epoxy! It'll make you feel better. I used Armorpoxy, but I've seen Leggari products come out looking really good as well.
Reach out to both and see if they'll hit you up w/ some free products?
If nothing else, get the vinyl bubble flooring to help w/ standing in shop for hours
I had this done in my basement after a flood I had laminate over glue down carpet. Was glad it was under insurance. They got to remove 1200 sqft. Not sure how they did it but was 2 days
I saw that sentinel 626 works better than the 727 series?
42" air scraper! Get your dust collection system out and just scrape all that stupid glue off. I have no idea if it's the best way, but I did it in my house and it worked pretty well except for where I dinged my wall, but the molding hid it.
What you see mastic you need to test for asbestos sir.
Best to rent a floor scrapping machine And cut 12-18 inch wide
If it were me, I would've used a concrete grinder here after the carpet was up. It's not that big of a space, so I think my 5" concrete grinder would have cleaned this out in about 3 hrs without too much wear and tear on my body. It must specifically be a concrete grinder and should be attached to a HEPA shopvac. A regular grinder would burn out in about 15 mins. I have 3 different grits for the grinding wheel on mine. Concrete grinder is about $450 and the diamond grind wheels are about $100 ea. They aren't paper! I generally use the "middle" grit one and am still on the first one. They last a long time. The "low" one is good for paint removal only and the "high" is really good for those areas where you have heavy adhesive.
After grinding out the floor, you are perfectly setup for epoxy paint too. Less than $100 in materials cost and it will look beautiful when finished. Provided you put 3 or so layers of clearcoat on top it will take a beating and last for years too. Only downside is the time as there is a wait period between each coat. Probably a 2 day job in total. 2 coats epoxy + 3-4 clearcoats.
Looking at how the carpet came off I would have tried to clamp it between one 2x4 rolled into it and another one on top of the first one. Bolt them together then pull the whole thing off with a winch in one go.
I would have used a come-a-long, or snatch block pulley, and yanked that carpet right up. just anchor to a wall stud. Also a oscillating multi-tool, or orbital wire brush, to take up the remaining residue up. I was feeling your pain. But after you do 10 of these, you learn to do it the easy way.
I would suggest renting a Diamond head grinder to get the concrete prepared for epoxy paint flooring.
I think I would have cleaned and kept the carpet. Easier on the joints than standing directly on concrete. Also an insulator and good for sound dampening. Just my opinion. Good luck with the new home and shop. Looking forward to seeing the progression.
I've had to remove glued carpet from concrete at work and it was hard. It was four of us and we just kept pulling.
Cut into 2” wide strips then bust out an electric scraper (hire one or pay a pro to do it) then on concrete either concrete grinder/shotblast/scabbler to mechanically remove ALL of the adhesive then prime and self level, those are manufacturers instructions and in some countries part of their building regs.
I'm in Mount Olive, come fix my floor man. 😉 heat gun son. Use heat to loosen adhesive. Carpet like that you should do hip wide runs and some vice grips......well not ahould do but it been done and it worked but you're right about the effort needed to do it. Not simple.
I am not super experienced, but I believe I have a design for a carpet puller that will make pulling carpet a lot easier using mechanical advantage.
I would use my national machine have that put inlike 5 mins and then use my taylor sander with dust collector for glue and done in under and hour.
I want to invent a one person carpet puller. I already have a basic image in my head.
Perhaps you can weld one togather if I tell you how.
Edit:It is a to pry up carpet off the floor, and possibly can stretch carpet as well. Contact me, and let me send you a picture I drew. I bet you can make it.
Save your effort. A 2' x 4' sheet of plywood makes pulling up carpet much easier. You stand the plywood up and toss the carpet over it. Then you pull back with a lot of leverage. Cut the carpet in strips, not squares and roll it up when you're done.
Sometimes hosing down the carpet and letting it sit loosens the glue. But then you have wet carpet. So pick your poison
Well with the comment of done enough for your use, that is great, but what difference would you have done if it were a client's house...
That was a tuff job.....
I own a bicycle shop in Summerfield and you are more than welcome to come help take ours out.
Hammer drill and scrapper attachment dude
I have old (from the 70's) kitchen carpet glued everywhere on subfloor. I had a flooring contractor give me an estimate to put vinyl planks down. He wanted $700 just to remove the 250 sq. feet of old kitchen carpet. This video attests to how much hard work it involves but that seemed really high priced to me.
I still have the old worn out ugly kitchen carpet and at the prices charged for removing it, I will probably die with it. I'm not physically capable of a DYI anymore.
Cut 1 ft wide strips and pull from one end to the other
cut in to strips with a hook blade straights are no good for uplift once you have enuff of the strip up cut a handle in to the carpet and pull this helps some times and for the old glue a buffer with a copper plate works well. I do alot of double stick carpet and up lift is always the worst bit some time you just need a turbo stripper