I am currently remodeling my basement and I have pulled up all of the old Indoor/Outdoor carpet. I am stuck with alot of nasty looking adhesive on my slab. I need to remove it before I lay my new floor. How is the best way to go about this?

i am in the same predicament. have you found a solution?

There are several ways to do this.

One is with chemical adhesive removers but this can be expensive and even dangerous especially if you have a furnace or boiler in your basement. The fumes from adhesive removers are combustible and can lead to a flash fire. If you do use this method make sure to have your furnace or boiler with any pilot lights completely shut off and use adequate ventilation.

Another method involves the use of a heat gun. Sometimes heat can soften the adhesive enough to remove it with a scraper.

Otherwise, consider leaving the adhesive in place and using floor levelers to smooth the surface or construct a framed or floating subfloor over the adhesive to provide a smooth and even insulated floor surface.

If it's not too late for yet another "hot tip" to try -- how 'bout this one?

I've had numerous occasions to remove glued carpet, hardwood, etc. from concrete. I even own a "chipper" to help me with such tasks. A chipper is an electric device fitted with a removable/replaceable blade (razor sharp) that can prove quite helpful clearing concrete from glued down carpet, hardwood, vinyl, etc. You might make a round of calls to your local rental yards to see if they have such a device on rental.

Now, how 'bout a COOL TIP as well?

If you're stuck (sorry 'bout that -- I couldn't resist) trying to remove glued down carpet, vinyl, hardwood parquet or other material from hardwood flooring that you hope to refinish later, you may need to take a different tact with the removal methods you employ.

Heat guns can melt the glue and drive it between boards or even into the wood grain as can solvents which may also discolor the surface of the hardwood so deeply that sanding will not remove it all. In many cases, at least from my own experience, the cure an be worse than the disease. The chipper I spoke of earlier can help here as well but will often do more damage than you may at first realize. When the removal's all done you can find out way too late that you've totally ruined the hardwood you hoped to save underneath.

Try DRY ICE. It's amazing what it can do. You should probably call around first to locate a good (inexpensive) supplier for dry ice. Although it's available from many grocery stores in small quantities (great for keeping your frozen foods frozen when the electricity goes on the blink), it's better to buy it from the actual manufacturers (ice makers) if you have one in your town.

You have to be very careful handling dry ice -- it's extremely cold. Wear gloves or other protective covering. DO NOT LET IT TOUCH YOUR BARE SKIN. IT WILL FREEZE BURN BARE SKIN TO THE TOUCH.

The nice thing about dry ice is that when it melts it's gone. It leaves no residue. Unlike nomal ice that leaves water in it's path, dry ice evaporates into thin air (well, foggy air anyway). Dry ice is what they use in the theatre when they need to create the illusion of "smoke". Meanwhile dry ice will freeze the old glue, vinyl, etc. almost instantly allowing you to chip up pieces much more easily than not.

I typically use a medium-sized chunk (1/4 to 1/2 pound at a time) keeping the remainder in my freezer or in a special insulated box (styrofoam 2 - 4 inches thick). Be forewarned: It will continue to melt in the freezer and it will freezer burn items it lays against unless insulated by a packaging material (e.g. styrofoam -- it's cheap, easy to find and works very well).

I place the 1/4 to 1/2 pound piece in an old metal tray. One with handles at both ends. I set the tray and ice on top of the area I want to chip away next. After a few minutes time, the area directly underneath and around the tray becomes VERY BRITTLE and much easier to remove. Meanwhile, I move the tray and ice to ready another area while I chip away at the first spot.

Depending on the size of the floor I need to clean, I'll go through 5 to 10 pounds of dry ice per day. You don't need it everywhere. It's just nice to have handy. Anything helps to make a hard just a little easier.

Hope this helps.

Lets try a reply that isnt a novel. lol. Try a product called "Panda Stripper". I've used it with much success. Fumes are nominal and I have used it in commercial applications in enclosed office buildings. They do have a web-site to get all the info or safety issues you require. I will get the site addy and post it here later as well.

I just removed tile mastic and carpet adhesive and I tried about 5 different chemicals... 4 (mineral spirits, paint remover, xylene, acetone) of which didn't work at all. Finally, after just about giving up we found this stuff by Sentinel called 747 which we bought at Menards.

I put the first application on and thought well it's better than all the other stuff so far. Then you have to go back with a second coat and scrub it with a brush. This loosens the remaining mastic up, and your able to wipe it up. I literally wiped it up with paper towels... lots of them. Then it wasn't quite clean, so I went back and scrubbed some more and put cat litter on it to soak it up. That worked wonders. I was able to remove it all and the floor was left with just some very old paint which I had to get off.

I'm going to acid stain the floors, so I went to home depot and rented a drum sander. Put on the 24 grit sanding paper and literally spent 2 days sanding 450 sq. ft. It was a snails pace or even slower but it worked. Now I have to go back and sand all the edges to get the rest up.

I'll tell you that I swear by the Sentinel products though. It comes in bright yellow contianers and really works well. Follow the directions though... seriously. Oh, and it's low odor, and eco-friendly, which really helps since I'm redoing my basement floors.

I hope you protected yourself from lead paint. Old floor paints used to contain lead.
Be sure to ventilate well. You can get real sick acid washing.

I discovered that ordinary household ammonia removed the old carpet glue from hardwood, maybe because wax was under it, but it worked like a charm!

check out this site for handy hints
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod02/master02.html
I suggest that many folks bookmark it as many of the suggestions are pretty good.