I recently borrowed a little portable steamer from a friend to remove masking tape on wood floors.
Dissolve foam rubber backing from hardwood floors.
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.
Usually it is best to remove floor edge molding to get all the way to the walls but if the molding is expensive or hard to remove it is not unreasonable to do a best effort with the edge sander above.
Removing rubber carpet back from cement floor.
It gets a bit more complicated if you plan to keep the wood floor uncovered and refinish it.
09 16 2007 by leona labine.
How to remove dried latex backing from a floor.
In that case the best method for removal will depend on why the pad stuck to the floor in the first place.
The flooring carpet guy said that the rubber removal by itself might ve been a 600 job minimum for a little 12 12 room maybe more if the material was really that awful to remove.
Rubber backed mats can dull your floor s shine and even cause some discoloration.
Rugs with latex backings can stick to your flooring leaving behind a big mess when the rug is removed.
If you can find a long handled scraper the kind they use to remove tile it will save on your back.
To protect your hardwood floor use a combination felt and rubber pad to keep your area rugs from sliding.
I still wouldn t ever use a latex backed rug again after this experience because i d be afraid some of the latex would get through the rug protector underneath.
The padding may have been glued or stapled to the floor.
Sand off old carpet backing.
If mineral spirits doesn t work try denatured alcohol which is good for removing dried latex paint.
A third option is spray lubricant which is a petroleum distillate like mineral spirits and can loosen the adhesion of the latex to the finish.
The tape had been along the floor moldings i painted years ago.
Never ever use a rubber or latex backed rug on your hardwood flooring.
If you use rugs with latex or rubber backing.
Then add the cost of refinishing.
Rug pads are great for keeping area rugs from sliding around on hardwood floors but the wrong one can leave marks and hurt your floor.
If you do and i wouldn t ever use one of those rug protector thingies underneath the rug.