Carpet Foam Stuck To Floor

Flooring experts informed our team of several common causes.

Carpet foam stuck to floor. Usually it is best to remove floor edge molding to get all the way to the walls but if the molding is expensive or hard to remove it is not unreasonable to do a best effort with the edge sander above right or an orbital with a shield. Step 2 moisten an area of foam with a solvent that you ve tested and found to be safe for the floor finish. After 26 hours of labor i found out how and how not to remove carpet padding from hardwood floors. Scrape off the wet carpet padding and adhesive with the putty knife or scraper.

Rubbery carpet padding can fuse onto a hardwood floor. In removing the staples attached to your carpet padding use the pliers too. You can dig into the foam without fear because the plastic isn t hard enough to scratch the floor finish. Over several years it may have bonded to the polyurethane.

Then begin cutting out the carpet padding into small strips. Cleaning off this backing can be a real. If there is still adhesive on the floor apply a solvent such as acetone or rubbing alcohol to the adhesive and let it sit for 30 minutes. Working backward from your starting corner pull the carpet off the floor in big pieces.

Rent a floor sander either a drum sander floor stripper or square buff sander and take off the foam varnish and thin layer of the wood. First pull back the carpet padding using pliers. Scrape off as much of the carpet backing from the floor as you can using a plastic paint scraper. When old carpet remains on your floor for long time the rubber backing eventually deteriorates and it often sticks to the floor when you remove the carpet.

In that case the best method for removal will depend on why the pad stuck to the floor in the first place. All you need are a utility knife a hammer a pry bar a vacuum cleaner and a pair of pliers. The padding may have been glued or stapled to the floor. Mop the area thoroughly after the carpet has been removed.

Dampen a cloth with your solvent and wipe up the excess glue and foam after thoroughly scraping the floor. The problem won t be permanent and will resolve once the temperature drops and the eva foam expansion is reversed.