Appreciation post: My old basement floor taught me a trick with a heat gun

Last month in my house in Springfield, I had to pull up some old vinyl tiles in the basement. They were glued down hard. Instead of scraping for hours, I tried a heat gun on a low setting, about 300 degrees. It softened the glue in seconds and the tiles came up clean. Anyone else have a good trick for old adhesive removal?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabethhayes28d ago

Did you have to worry about asbestos in those old tiles?

henrycooper28d ago

My parents' 1960s house had those exact tiles in the basement. We found out they were 9x9 asbestos tiles when we went to pull them up for a reno. The whole project got shut down for a week while a special crew came in. They had to seal off the room and use these crazy vacuum systems. It was a huge pain (and expense) we never saw coming.

avery_smith2228d ago

Sounds like my home reno skills would've just created a new biohazard zone.