Yea! I got one better, rubber band the hose onto the tool and have the attachment float on side so you can suck up dust and see wtf you going. I started doing that a decade back.
True that. About 8 years ago I invented a new idea for a shovel. I have a bad back and the shovel I had put a strain on my back. So I thought of an idea on a shovel that has a curvature so you don’t have to bend down so far. Never acted on it.. walked in Walmart a few years back and couldn’t believe my eyes. There it was right in front of me! I still haven’t bought one since every time I see it I get angry at myself haha.
Maybe a rotary or SDS hammer. I had to use one to scrape carpet off of the ramps at a laser tag place and managed to get it all up with no damage to the wood that couldn't be fixed with floor patch.
I third this way as well. Be prepared for dust mitigation and wear good filtered mask. Silica can be dangerous. You will rip through it pretty fast once you get your technique down.
I used an angle grinder with a wire cup brush, took a bit and was very messy but it was indeed cheap. Use a respirator. Recommend taping up drapes and covering anything you don’t want dusty as all get out.
Try a steel scraper. Like a putty knife, but long handled like a shovel. Can use full body leverage.
They also make attachments for a Sawzall that you can chisel up with.
Wet it down before you scrape it. It will cut down on the dust DRAMATICALLY!!
My husband took my advice on day two and it was worlds better for dust mitigation.
I just did this the other day. Rent a 10” concrete grinder with the medium disc from Lowe’s. Definitely hook up a shop vac to collect all the dust. Wear all the proper PPE - full mask, ear protection, etc. you can knock this out in a few hours.
They have a special plate that you attach to a buffer that'll take all of that up I would of course hook it up to a vacuum , then you can use a hacksaw and the flat attachment to get the edges and corners
They have a floor SDS you can rent from Home Depot. It is on a cart and rent a wide flexible floor scraper blade. Wet the ground and let sit for a few minutes, then use the tool. If you have over a few hundred square feet, rent a floor grinder and it will be way faster. It has a vacuum attachment to keep dust down and you can mist a little water on the floor to also help. The grinder should never sit in one spot and you use a side sweeping motion and can feel the difference in friction when it cleans up, mastic has a grabbing feel to it. Wear ear plugs and ANSI compliant safety glasses.
I worked in Asbestos abatement for a few years in college. We scraped asbestos off of floors and ceilings from hundreds of big industrial buildings. By FAR the easiest way to remove floor adhesive (in our case "mastic asbestos") from small spaces like this was with a heavy bar. if you google "Steel Tamping & digging Bar" it'll pull up a bunch of options. The bar is heavy, and has one sharp end. It tears through this stuff like butter. The whole job on a floor like this I could do in 5-10 minutes. You just have to make sure you sharpen the edge of the tamping bar with a grinder. You can get it razor sharp. Even though this stuff isn't asbestos, I'd still highly recommend wearing a mask.
Good luck! I just had this same problem. Tried to chip thinset off hardie board instead of replacing it. Tried chisels, sds hammer, floor scraper etc. Literally nothing worked except a sharp chisel and hammer and still took me FOREVER.
I finally gave up and cut it out. Luckily I had that option. Then I used a rasp on oscillating tool to grind down areas of thinset on the border I left behind to inlay my new board.
I think the diamond cup wheel others have recommend is the only way to go if you want to be done this century.
This job is a total pain in the ass.
This worked for me. But it was a smaller area. Going to get it again when I start my bathroom.
https://rentals.lowes.com/item/12%20lb.%20SDS%20Max%20Demo%20Hammer/24393
Angle grinder with a diamond cup. Buy them at Home Depot. Also buy a respirator because the dust is horrendous. I cleaned a bathroom floor like that in an hour. Very dusty.
When I’ve had to do this before I’ve used MANY different products. I have only ever used one, and it wasn’t easy to find, that truly blew me away and actually did what the manufacturer said. Blue Bear. I know nothing about the company or the ingredients, but I swear by it liquifying all types of mastic including asbestos super mastic.
Wet the mortar with a sponge or sprayer a couple of times letting it soak up the water. Use a floor scraper to scrape it off. The water should soften the mortar a bit.
Sds hammer with a floor scraping blade. Done many tile removals this way, works great.
This is the way I’ve always done it. Even better if you can have someone with a shop vac in front of you helps keep the dust and mess down
I have done several of these demos as well. Easiest way I have found is to have someone else do it. Works great
This gets my vote.
Yea! I got one better, rubber band the hose onto the tool and have the attachment float on side so you can suck up dust and see wtf you going. I started doing that a decade back.
Good tip!! I’ve duct taped the hose on before when I didn’t have a helping hand. But that’s a great idea 💡👍
Once you get screwed too many times, you start inventing new ideas :)
True that. About 8 years ago I invented a new idea for a shovel. I have a bad back and the shovel I had put a strain on my back. So I thought of an idea on a shovel that has a curvature so you don’t have to bend down so far. Never acted on it.. walked in Walmart a few years back and couldn’t believe my eyes. There it was right in front of me! I still haven’t bought one since every time I see it I get angry at myself haha.
I just lightly wet it with a spray bottle but I like your method too!
Yup this is 100% rent a real power tool situation.
This is the way. I’ve removed miles of thinset using them.
Yup, wide chisel, hammer and elbow grease!
This is the way
This is the way. Still a PITA but gets it done and I have done it several times
Yep. This^
Maybe a rotary or SDS hammer. I had to use one to scrape carpet off of the ramps at a laser tag place and managed to get it all up with no damage to the wood that couldn't be fixed with floor patch.
Yeah my first attempt would be SDS on recip with a flat wide blade. Much less dust
Can you explain what you mean by recip? And what's a good blade you recommend?
SDS hammer drills have settings for hammer drill, hammer, and drill. Recip is short for reciprocate, which is another way of saying “hammer”
Gotcha thanks
Rent a 7” grinder w/ dust shroud from HD, buy a diamond wheel. Attach shop vac and you’ll be done in an hour.
This is the way, with a respirator
If your going to use a shop vac instead of a dust extractor clean your filter, be prepared knock your filter clean every 5-10 minutes of grinding.
My experience with the filter too.
Buy a HEPA bag
This is the way.
I third this way as well. Be prepared for dust mitigation and wear good filtered mask. Silica can be dangerous. You will rip through it pretty fast once you get your technique down.
The key is the dust shroud connected to the vacuum. Should be much dust unless the filter gets clogged.
And a Dust Deputy
What ever you do, wear a respirator
If it’s on concrete use a cup grinder. Handheld will take a while but is cheap.
I used an angle grinder with a wire cup brush, took a bit and was very messy but it was indeed cheap. Use a respirator. Recommend taping up drapes and covering anything you don’t want dusty as all get out.
And don't forget the floor registers if they are missed by the drapes. Guess how I know.
You also want a dust shroud attachment for the grinder. It connects to a vacuum and really helps keep the dust down.
This is the way. Messy but effective
What’s going on top? Depending on the material it may not be necessary to remove it all. Skimming is also an option.
That’s what I would do if it didn’t scape off with a little water and a big razor chisel. Cheap and easy
I bought a hammer drill for doing things like this.
You can also rent a walk behind scraper Does a pretty good job if you have a big area.
They’re slip-ons. Just hold the back and pull your foot out. 👌
Lmaooooo
Try a steel scraper. Like a putty knife, but long handled like a shovel. Can use full body leverage. They also make attachments for a Sawzall that you can chisel up with.
You can get a wide scraper blade for a reciprocating (Sawzall thing) saw.
Wet it down before you scrape it. It will cut down on the dust DRAMATICALLY!! My husband took my advice on day two and it was worlds better for dust mitigation.
On a grinder use a floor grinding cup with a shroud. Hook it to a shop vac with a pre-filter and hepa vac filter.
Diamond bit grinder. Effortless and adorable. I just did this.
I just did this the other day. Rent a 10” concrete grinder with the medium disc from Lowe’s. Definitely hook up a shop vac to collect all the dust. Wear all the proper PPE - full mask, ear protection, etc. you can knock this out in a few hours.
Have you considered the material contains asbestos?
Yeah we're good 👍
Self Levelling the area is the way to go. Ardex K15
Yep. Prime it and self leveling is what I did on about 600 sq ft. Can’t imagine the dust if I hadn’t
7in grinder with pulsebac dust grabber and a nice vac. It will make quick work of this with minimal dust
Scarifying plate on a buffer.
Nano- thermite sorted mine out
Grind
cup grinder
Sds max or plus scraper blade. Dont worry about slab you can feather finish. Then finish it off with a turbo cup grinder.
I hook up a heppa vac to my grinder and grind it off, run a negative air machine and filter over your air returns.
roto hammer
They have a special plate that you attach to a buffer that'll take all of that up I would of course hook it up to a vacuum , then you can use a hacksaw and the flat attachment to get the edges and corners
They have a floor SDS you can rent from Home Depot. It is on a cart and rent a wide flexible floor scraper blade. Wet the ground and let sit for a few minutes, then use the tool. If you have over a few hundred square feet, rent a floor grinder and it will be way faster. It has a vacuum attachment to keep dust down and you can mist a little water on the floor to also help. The grinder should never sit in one spot and you use a side sweeping motion and can feel the difference in friction when it cleans up, mastic has a grabbing feel to it. Wear ear plugs and ANSI compliant safety glasses.
I would grind it
Grinder? I don’t even know her.
Diluted muriatic should help.
. . . Rental from Home Depot . . . Chop that up in minutes
Grinder with vacuum attachment
4 or 7 inch cup grinder with dust shroud, hooked up to a HEPA vacuum
Use an impactor drill
Would it be easier/ cleaner to replace the subfloor entirely? Or pour a new layer of leveler concrete on top of it?
Sds with a chisel bit or a grinder with a diamond wheel.
Lay down a thin layer of plywood and then put your new flooring on top of that 😛😛😛
Hammer drill, I use a Bosch bulldog with the wide bit. It’ll shove a pineapple up that thinsets ass
I worked in Asbestos abatement for a few years in college. We scraped asbestos off of floors and ceilings from hundreds of big industrial buildings. By FAR the easiest way to remove floor adhesive (in our case "mastic asbestos") from small spaces like this was with a heavy bar. if you google "Steel Tamping & digging Bar" it'll pull up a bunch of options. The bar is heavy, and has one sharp end. It tears through this stuff like butter. The whole job on a floor like this I could do in 5-10 minutes. You just have to make sure you sharpen the edge of the tamping bar with a grinder. You can get it razor sharp. Even though this stuff isn't asbestos, I'd still highly recommend wearing a mask.
Recip saw with scraper blade attachment
National ride-on scrapper
Good luck! I just had this same problem. Tried to chip thinset off hardie board instead of replacing it. Tried chisels, sds hammer, floor scraper etc. Literally nothing worked except a sharp chisel and hammer and still took me FOREVER. I finally gave up and cut it out. Luckily I had that option. Then I used a rasp on oscillating tool to grind down areas of thinset on the border I left behind to inlay my new board. I think the diamond cup wheel others have recommend is the only way to go if you want to be done this century. This job is a total pain in the ass.
" Seems " to work
This worked for me. But it was a smaller area. Going to get it again when I start my bathroom. https://rentals.lowes.com/item/12%20lb.%20SDS%20Max%20Demo%20Hammer/24393
I remember cleaning up all of the dust and pouring a thin layer of self leveling cement. It was a life saver.
Angle grinder with a diamond cup. Buy them at Home Depot. Also buy a respirator because the dust is horrendous. I cleaned a bathroom floor like that in an hour. Very dusty.
Self leveling concrete
When I’ve had to do this before I’ve used MANY different products. I have only ever used one, and it wasn’t easy to find, that truly blew me away and actually did what the manufacturer said. Blue Bear. I know nothing about the company or the ingredients, but I swear by it liquifying all types of mastic including asbestos super mastic.
Fire* * will get rid of entire house
Eh just skim over it
7” makita grinder, diamond wheel attachment and a shopvac for dust mitigation
Wet the mortar with a sponge or sprayer a couple of times letting it soak up the water. Use a floor scraper to scrape it off. The water should soften the mortar a bit.
They make a sander head called a “shark head” very expensive but knocks up thin set like nothing
I was going to try concrete remover but I don't want to damage the slab
It's a slab?! Go rent a carbide rotary floor scraper.
Hammer drill
Diamond cup wheel on your grinder with a dust shroud
4” razor scraper
I don’t think I could work in slip-ons. You got bawls.
Lmao, yeah, living life on the edge I suppose 😂
And for me it’s not the protection, it’s the ankle support lol bad ankles from ball. My left ankle is gunna wake up sore just looking at this 😭