How to Remove Carpet Padding From a Cement Floor
Pulling up carpet padding from a cement floor usually leaves a mess consisting of dried, brittle carpet padding bits and large swaths of old padding glued in place. Padding is attached to cement floors with glue. Removal of the padding depends on a number of factors, from what kind of glue was used to how much was put down. Professional installers use glue that hardens like cement and takes much longer to remove. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Lift off the carpet first and assess the job before planning on the rest of the remodeling. Many carpet pads disintegrate and can be swept up with little work left to remove the rest remainder of the padding. Other jobs will require days and days of tedious labor to scrape off all the padding from the cement.
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Cut the padding that is heavily glued to the floor in pieces using a knife before beginning the removal. It's much easier to work in sections than to try to pull up the entire pad in one fell swoop. By cutting the padding in pieces that are roughly three feet square, you also increase the odds of getting a clean pull and ripping a good portion of the glue up with the pad.
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Wear a face mask and gloves when you get ready to begin pulling on the sections. Toxic dust from the cement and from the foam in the padding can be dangerous to the lungs. Provide as much ventilation as you can to keep the room aerated.
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Insert your fingers under an edge of a cut section and pull up with a steady tug. Try to keep the motion steady and even to pull up as much glue as you can with the padding. Tug at tight spots without ripping the padding. While holding an edge of the padding piece up, push under the remaining piece with a putty knife to loosen the hold.
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Scrape the remaining glue off the floor with the putty knife and scrapers. Apply acetone to stubborn spots of glue with a rag. Immediately work the glue up with a scraper after dousing it with the acetone before it dries completely.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear kneepads to provide extra comfort for this job, which is going to be hard enough. Kneeling on a cement floor, even with carpet and padding, can create joint pain. Pressure on weak knees can cause permanent damage or aggravate already deteriorating joints.
Carpet padding may be full of mold if the cement flooring is in a basement. Discard the padding immediately to avoid contamination, and clean the floor with bleach once the padding and glue have been removed.
