Removing cork tile adhesive..?

[The Z'eer]

Cork tiles placed on the kitchen walls before the house was bought by my parents. I reckon the were adhered to the walls in the mid 1970's, any idea what will strip off this sticky 1970's adhesive ?

Thanks

 

[mike os]

Thinners, acetone, mek …

 

[brightspark]

might take half the plaster off the walls when you pull them off or leave big blobs of the stuff on. if it dont it may chissel off it might be spread all over then your best off unibonding it and re skimming

 

[AVI_8]

I had tiles which were stuck to my floor when I started my house restoration, they had been down for decades and did not want to come up.
I got an oscillating multi saw to lift them up, took ages but nothing else was working, I used blades without teeth which worked well as you can attack it at quite a shallow angle.

 

[AVI_8]

Thinners, acetone, mek …

I’ve heard MEK mentioned often in car forums as the best thing to remove carpet glue, people mentioned it had a very strong solvent smell though.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I had tiles which were stuck to my floor when I started my house restoration, they had been down for decades and did not want to come up.
I got an oscillating multi saw to lift them up, took ages but nothing else was working, I used blades without teeth which worked well as you can attack it at quite a shallow angle.

Always keep a few of those multitool scraper blades about.

 

[jgr2015]

I had tiles which were stuck to my floor when I started my house restoration, they had been down for decades and did not want to come up.
I got an oscillating multi saw to lift them up, took ages but nothing else was working, I used blades without teeth which worked well as you can attack it at quite a shallow angle.

I managed to lift one or two square yards of them with a garden spade lifting a strip about an inch or two wide at a time. Kicking the spade through the glue with every bit of effort I could muster. Absolutely exhausting work. I used to budget on getting one or two tiles taken up and then go and do some regular building type work for a bit of light relief....

 

[JimmyS]

Probably be as well either taking the adhesive and plaster off or working over the top of the adhesive. I'd think it would be something like Evo Stick. MEK might shift it but its horrible stuff, its got a sharp, disagreeable smell and you wouldn't want to be in a room full of MEK fumes for long.

 

[Ali]

Suppose it depends what you’re planning after you’ve removed the cork? This

Roughneck Big Mutt

Ideal for heavy duty applications such as floor tile removal. 1370mm hardwood handle. 177mm blade width.

www.toolstation.com

Then resort to small tools / nasty liquids once the bulk is gone?

 

[Pete.]

I have quite successfully remove large amounts of contact adhesive from concrete floor before using a wire cupwheel on an angle grinder. The hard knotwheels don't work very well but the soft ones whip it right off.

Dunno about using it ona wall though, most likely will take a lot of plaster off.

 

[Edward Teach]

A re-plaster is on the cards I think.
Or tile over it.

 

[mike os]

I’ve heard MEK mentioned often in car forums as the best thing to remove carpet glue, people mentioned it had a very strong solvent smell though.

That would be because it’s a very strong solvent and extremely flammable

 

[grim_d]

I’ve heard MEK mentioned often in car forums as the best thing to remove carpet glue, people mentioned it had a very strong solvent smell though.

It's a ketone much like acetone but much more potent. I used copies amounts of it for years in aviation (a lot of places don't allow it).

It's the active ingredient in solvent weld pipe cement...melts pvc easily.

Inside a building you'll want a respirator and it eats nitrile gloves. It seems to just soak through latex gloves too. We used heavy duty marigolds

Great stuff!

 

[Porkypine]

In my experience, Petrol

 

[mike os]

In my experience, Petrol

but who can afford that for cleaning?

 

[Parm]

I’ve heard MEK mentioned often in car forums as the best thing to remove carpet glue, people mentioned it had a very strong solvent smell though.

Very good and highly effective

But not not be messed around with at home applying to large sections of wall

Things go wrong very quickly and the cork tiles will be the least of your issues

 

[Matrixx]

I second the Multitool very effective

 

[Farside]

but who can afford that for cleaning?

I've heard some people actually burn it. Fools, it's like gold.