One of the first things we noticed about this building was that there was linoleum tile on the floors. Everywhere. We had suspicions that hardwood floors lurked underneath in many of the rooms, especially since some of the tiles were chipped or missing and we could see hints of wood peeking through.
Where to begin the tedious task of removing this crud? The upstairs kitchen quickly became Public Enemy #1. We sensed several layers of flooring moving around under foot as we walked. A little excavation proved that our intuition was correct.
The top layers were not too difficult to remove – just pry them up and drag them to the Dumpster. However, when we got to the base layer and started the tedious task of chipping away at the tiles, it became clear that we needed a better solution.
Enter the Silent Paint Remover.
The Silent Paint Remover works like a heat gun but adds the benefit of infrared light. It heats up to only 300 or 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t that much compared to a standard heat gun. The infrared penetrates the linoleum tiles and softens the asphalt based adhesive below. When you time it right the tiles peel up easily with no bubbling or burning.
And so it goes – put the Silent Paint Remover on a tile, wait 20 seconds, move it to the next spot and peel up the tile where it was, then move it to the next spot and peel, etc. In three or four hours all the tiles in this 13’ x 15’ room were removed, and when I scraped off some of the asphalt I could actually start to see some wood!
Yahoo, Cathy! That is great. And it’s good to know about the Silent Paint Remover – we’ve used heat guns before, but I didn’t know about that tool.
Isn’t it fascinating how styles change, and something that we now consider desirable was passe at one point? Our 1912 house, when we bought it in 1987, had many rooms with dropped acoustical tile ceilings and much linoleum, probably done in the 1950’s. In a few rooms, happily, it was sheet linoleum that had just been laid over the original maple floors, so was very easy to remedy. Our acoustical tile ceilings are all gone now, and we’re back to original height ceilings. Much better.
I’m so glad that this tool is working so well for you on flooring, too. We were really happy when we discovered this tool – ah, the joys of house blogs.
I just had a look at the “Silent Paint Remover” on amazon. Lots of unhappy comments – great concept/effectiveness, but poor construction. Buried in one of the negative reviews were some interesting comments. It looks like the product currently sold as “Silent Paint Remover” is a knock-off of the original Swedish product. The comments point to http://www.eco-strip.com/ as the source for the higher quality version. Both cost almost $500, so I’d be ticked if I ended up with an unreliable knockoff.
Were you worried about asbestos?