Hello Masters of the floor,
I am refinishing some heart of pine floors. Allwas going well until I got to the one that some idiot had put down the cheap peel and stick tile. The glue is gumming the belt and I would like to know how you guys handle that. I have a drum sander and 17" buffer. Thanks JL

Read response to your same question in the other forum

My Sympathies to you! We had a whole large kitchen that needed adhesive removal. The first layer was the modern carpet adhesive which has a yellow-tan color. My son removed it scraping with a large putty knife after it was softened with a heat gun. The smell of this stuff is bad so wear a respirator and open windows. The black mastic layer was next left over from years gone by. That was actually easier to remove using lighter fluid and steel wool. We find that a lot of adhesive stuff is removed with lighter fluid. Last resort use adhesive remover which we used from DAP it is very caustic on the skin so you need chemical gloves - but it does a fair job. Hope this will help you!

Black mastic, ehh... You mean asbestos cutback adhesive?

The thought had crossed my mind about the asbestos stuff but the tile that had been there at one time was gone so I suspect that if there was asbestos it was in the tile and not in the mastic. Furthermore, because we wiped it off with steel wool soaked in lighter fluid it was not airborne like it would have been if we had sanded it off. Currently, my biggest problem is that I tung oiled my maple floor over the weekend when it was 95 degrees outside and probably the humidity to match. It never crossed my mind that I would have problems with wood grain raising when I put the oil on. I have used this product several times and have been more than happy with it. This time it is like razor stubble consisently through out the floor. I thought perhaps the stuff got contaminated with dust but I took some and coated a non-porous surface and it was smooth the shiny so it must have been the humidity that raised the surface so I guess I will now have to rent a buffer and get it down before proceeding. Any advice on that. Floorguy? Thanks