COMING UNSTUCK
Paul Igo, technical director at The Preparation Group, discusses the best tools and methods for removing adhesives & sealants.
Old adhesives and sealants can be tricky to remove and have always posed a challenge for flooring contractors. Traditional grinding methods are usually unsuccessful, generating surface heat which renders the material even softer and stickier and displaces it rather than removing.
Before removal, there are two key questions; firstly, what is the composition of the adhesive or sealant and its thickness? Secondly, what is the composition and condition of the subfloor underneath? The adhesive may need to be removed in order to lay a new flooring material, in which case consideration must be made to the specified surface profile – a second process may be required.
A Planer fitted with a milling drum will remove thick, hard adhesives but is less effective on soft sticky materials.
A Scraper, or Multi-Surface Stripping Machine like the MSS150, fitted with an appropriate scraping blade, will lift tiles or vinyl along with levelling compounds and underlying adhesives in one go.
However, the most effective method of dealing with adhesives, sealants and other sticky substances is by using a Grinding machine fitted with Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) shoes. PCDs came to the market around 12 years ago yet often aren’t considered.
The benefit of PCDs is that they scrape rather than grind to efficiently ‘lift’ these problem materials. Polycrystalline Diamond is formed when diamond is sintered with a bond under high temperature and high pressure, resulting in a shoe with a longer life and high thermal stability. They generate less heat, so during the grinding operation their cutting edges remain clear.
The 110v, 240v or 415v walk behind machines and the STG450 multi-tasking machine have plates which are specifically designed to fit PCD shoes on to. However, PCD shoes can also be fitted to all machines with plates that hold
22 | ADHESIVES & SEALANTS
CASE STUDY The Preparation Group’s contracting division PPC was hired by a client in Norwich who had 50m2
of thick white combed
adhesive that needed to be removed ready for installation of a damp-proof membrane and levelling compound. The office unit had been modified with removal of walls and the tiled floor, but this had left brittle adhesive behind. A method was needed that would smooth and clean the surface. The team used an STG450 machine with a double- tooth PCD plate attached which removed the material quickly and efficiently without scratching the subfloor. The project was completed in a day. Without PCDs it would have taken substantially longer.
standard grinding shoes and they are interchangeable with regular grinding shoes. In this way a floor can be cleared of adhesives using the PCDs, and then cup discs fixed to the plate ready for grinding. To save time, the PCDs can be left attached ‘in the background’.
PCD shoes are available in double-tooth: for the removal of thick materials such as carpet backing and sealants and triple-tooth: for the removal of thin coatings like adhesive and for creating a ‘closer’ profile.
There are also PCD discs that fit 9’’ hand grinders, consisting of a cup disc onto which fit interchangeable outer rings. These are ideal for removing adhesives in confined spaces and for edgework or small areas. There are two PCD rings available; 6-Piece for the removal of thick coatings and 18-Piece for the removal of thin adhesives and paint.
PCD accessories have many additional uses over and above adhesive removal, including the removal of other soft thick materials from latex screeds and certain asphalts.
www.ppcgroup.co.uk www.thepreparationgroup.com
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