Can you guys shed some light on what is envolved in ripping up a sold glue down off of concrete .. have around 2,000 square ft of it to do .. floor has been down approx 3 years , the installer never flashed it level , and there are so many pops its not worth injecting it .. Also what would you recomend as a flash ? going to put the new floor down with Bostics best .. will there be a lot of wood splinters left in the floor , if so would you just piss coat the hole floor ?

Well, Floor guy, you never know when it comes to demo, especially a wood gluedown. If it was me, I'd attempt to bill T&M. If I had to bid it flat fee, I'd want $3.00 a ft. minimum. The wood will come up. Long crow bars and cutting it every couple of feet. But the clean up of the slap is a big? How much scraping, sanding, leveling required is UNKOWN. That is why T&M is the most fair for all involved in demo work. Perry (Floorguy) is found of encapsulating the slab with Ardex (a piss coat?) and that maybe required and a proper solution. With your professional knowledge and experience, you make the best call you can

thanks for the input gary , i did a lot of piss coating in my time when i use to tile food chains .. never did a glue down rip up though and was curious as to what i was getting myself into .. its a freebe for a close friend .. i have one of the tile and carpet machines .. wonder if i put a six inch blade on it , and cut the wood like you sugest , that might do the trick for the rip up ?

If you're refering to one of those vibrating tile demo machines, I don't think that would work so great. Maybe for removing excess glue after the bulk of the wood was up. Never hurts to try however. Did you see this?
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... e-glue.htm

Thats the one gary , I saw the job today , i think i can lift them off the floor with my hand , thats how bad it is .. thanks for the site .. good info ..

Get a Hilti TE 905 AVR with a 6 inch Flex Chisel. That thing will blow your mind when you see it in action.

I have used it for Removing Tile/ThinSet as well as engineered wood/Bostik.

Remember that the FLEX Chisel is essential. Otherwise, you will just blow huge holes in the slab.

By the way Home Depot rents the machine if you aren't up for the purchase.

Thanks KG .. How much are they to purchase ?

I think I spent around 1200~1300 on the hammer and then about 225 on the chisel

Thanks , will rent , i dont do much Demo .. Welcome to the board ..

I missed this thread.

I hate Bostiks Best!! It doesn't hold its ridges, at all.


Cut the flooring with a circular saw in 3 to 6 inch rips across the grain. Then use an electric demo hammer, with a spade bit, to bust down the rows.


It took me about 5½ hours to bust out 100 sq.ft.

Perry said:
"I hate Bostiks Best!! It doesn't hold its ridges, at all."

So, what adhesive do you recommend to glue down hardwood to concrete?
Sika? Franklin Advantage? Stauf? Taylor? Dri-Tack? Chemrex? Got a job where the customer wants 7/16" solid IPE glued direct to concrete. Sika and distributor say they will warranty the install!!!!!

thanks everyone for the input .. I got it up .. most of it just lifted off the floor the rest was a little stubern .. I dont know what the installer used for glue , but It sure as heck dident hold ..

I think he's saying it's a nightmare to remove a glued Bostiks floor. Wait till he tries a DriTac glued floor..hehe.