Removing Tar Paper From Concrete Floor

It can still be found when the floor of such a home is pulled up.

Removing tar paper from concrete floor.

Often placed under linoleum or other resilient flooring products it was designed to act as a moisture barrier over existing wood or cement floors. Learn how to steam black mastic or tar paper off your floors. A word of advice. Black tar was a popular option for flooring adhesive in homes built prior to the 1970s.

You can achieve professional results with relative ease by following this advice for cleaning virtually any mess from concrete. Removing the tar paper to reveal the wood can be a difficult and time consuming task. After removing as much of the tar paper or felt as you can with a scraper sand the rest off using a drum type floor sander available at tool rental stores starting with coarse 40 grit sandpaper. Tar paper and black mastic is no match for a wallpaper steamer and some wood soap.

When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos. There actually seems to be a dearth of information on efficient ways to do this. Removing the black tar is a time consuming process but can be done properly with a strong solvent and the right. It s possible to clean tar off a concrete floor but it can require substantial physical effort and possibly harsh chemical solutions.

Before you begin make sure you read the label directions and wear protective gear including. The materials chosen for the floors determine the type of adhesive necessary. Concrete flooring has many fans for a number of reasons. However concrete is also quite porous which makes it difficult to remove sticky stains such as tar.

Tar is probably the last substance you d expect to come up easily from any surface let alone concrete but you re about to be pleasantly surprised. This is the most efficient and inexpensive way that i ve found. This is what my completed project looks like. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials.