BiggerPockets

There are quarter/half dollar size chunks of (old) carpet padding on the hardwoods of a unit I just bought. They are so old, the chunks have more of a hard "gummy" texture to them and are stuck quite nicely to the floors.

What are some of the best methods to remove the padding residue without sacrificing the beautiful hardwoods? :help:

Thanks. I'll try the acetone if there are no other suggestions.

Watch the nasty fumes and wear gloves with that acetone - it's nasty stuff.

Powerscraper? I just bought a Dremel multi-max - bet the scraper would get these up pretty quickly.

I was watching the Fein version for a long time but couldn't cough up the $300+ for one, the patent finally expired and there are going to be a bunch of cheap knockoffs on the market. That dremel will pay for itself pretty quickly even with occasional use.

I've done a bit of rehab linoleum scraping and some test plunge cuts in wood - amazing tool.

Aren't there a lot of hole from the staples? Scape them with a putty knife. You said stick padding right? Not Rock hard stuff stuck to the floor right? MikeOH uses a sander when nothing else works. I still think you'll have to sand them down though to get a good finish. IMHO

What you really need is something to loosen the "adheasive". Acetone is one way, but I would also look into some of the new adheasive removers.

The one that I am thinking of is called something like Gunk or Gum. It was created as an tape adheasive remover. And I have heard (never tried it) that if you pool it on a paricularly tough area and let it sit for a little while to loosen the "gum". Then attempt to remove the spot. If this made the chuncks smaller then reapply and wait a little longer before removing.

Love the heating the spackle knife tip. Think I'll use that one very soon. Thanks.