Took up self-stick floor tiles and now there is terrible, gooey adhesive residue on the old flooring.?

Question

The old flooring (sheet linoleum) is still ok but now we want to install a new ceramic tile floor over the old linoleum but the adhesive is horrible from those self-stick 12x12 tiles from Lowes (laid down about 6 months ago and we hated it right away but lived with it till now). We used "goo gone" but it's not working well and then the guy at Lowes said oh no, don't use that, it takes a week for it to dry right until we can install the tile floor. Now, we're still worried about getting all that gooooooey adhesive off the floor so we can lay the ceramic tile. Any ideas????

Answer 1

I hope I don't offend anyone but PLEASE remove any flooring to the substrate; or install concrete backer board over the "LINO"

No brag just fact; after so many years in the trades and so many multiple thousands of sq. ft. of flooring; don't believe for one minute that mortar will work over any NON porous surface to any level of your satisfaction.

Heat and solvents will only add to and aggravate the GOO. Sanding will largely be messy and costly.

I wish you success no matter whos suggestion you follow.

Steven Wolf

Answer 2

First and foremost, what type of subflooring do you have?
If it is wood, you will need some backing. HardiBacker (TM)
recommended. If you are installing on top of concrete, skip the
HardiBacker.

For the goo, if it really bothers you or if it is excessive, I suggest getting an angle grinder with some attachments. (4" is good)This will be a dusty process so ventilate the room (open all doors and windows). You do not need to do this at all especially if you are installing ceramic directly over the vinyl and the vinyl
(it's easier to just install over vinyl, though I wouldn't do it that way myself).
If the main problem you have with the goo on the floor is "uneveness", try self-leveling compound (for concrete slab). If it is wood subfloor, the hardibacker will take care of that issue.

Answer 3

If you're putting down ceramic, don't worry about the adhesive, just leave it, just so it's level. Liquid nails, a screw gun and hardibacker, go to town. Wear shoes you don't care about because the adhesive will stick to your shoes like crazy.