Removing vinyl floor adhesive from concrete

[Boomhauer]

Next week I am pulling up the crappy carpet and vinyl floor in our garage and painting the floor. The previous owners who installed it glued it down with I am assuming is vinyl floor adhesive. What is going to be the most cost effective and easiest way to get the adhesive up so I can epoxy paint the floor?

[zxcvbob]

Detcord. 

Probably be best to scrape it up with a floor scraper and a heat gun.  It's a long tedious job.

[Hawkmoon]

Depending on when it was put down, it may contain asbestos.

[Jim147]

Flamethrower

[Fly320s]

Rent a floor grinder with a diamond pad from Home Depot.

Are you painting the floor or putting down two part epoxy?

[Boomhauer]

Depending on when it was put down, it may contain asbestos.

The house was built in 1996 so not a problem.

[Ron]

Rent a floor grinder with a diamond pad from Home Depot.

Are you painting the floor or putting down two part epoxy?

That's the best method for long term success.

[bedlamite]

Just take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[Boomhauer]

Rent a floor grinder with a diamond pad from Home Depot.

Are you painting the floor or putting down two part epoxy?

Paint. I was looking at the instructions and I cant use an epoxy kit because of the short working time I am doing this alone and in our weather it has a very short working time. It would also be a lot easier to do this in two stages instead of one rushed one.

We also aren’t parking a car in this garage we are turning it into an outdoor living area and putting patio furniture in it.

[Bogie]

If you can, wet sand. That will keep the dust down. We can't get stuff for our autobody guys, so I figure you probably don't have something that would be effective.

[charby]

I am not envious of your upcoming project.

[tokugawa]

A sharp spud (scraper on a pole) might do it. At least the bulk of it. Adhesives tend to gum up grinding and sanding tools pretty quick. A latex porch and deck paint is easy to use- I washed some 6 month old concrete with vinegar and water, rinsed it with clear water and painted it with a Sherwin latex concrete paint- it stuck real well, but had funny unpleasant smell for a year-maybe it had some acid or something in it. 
 I would use regular latex paint- the wall paint I spilled on the floor prior to the floor finish was  hard to get off. Yet easy to repair. Epoxy is touted as the be all end all but prep is critical and it can flake off just like any other paint. Lot's of threads on shop floor paint on practical machinist forum, to do epoxy right seems like painting a show car...

[Boomhauer]

A sharp spud (scraper on a pole) might do it. At least the bulk of it. Adhesives tend to gum up grinding and sanding tools pretty quick. A latex porch and deck paint is easy to use- I washed some 6 month old concrete with vinegar and water, rinsed it with clear water and painted it with a Sherwin latex concrete paint- it stuck real well, but had funny unpleasant smell for a year-maybe it had some acid or something in it. 
 I would use regular latex paint- the wall paint I spilled on the floor prior to the floor finish was  hard to get off. Yet easy to repair. Epoxy is touted as the be all end all but prep is critical and it can flake off just like any other paint. Lot's of threads on shop floor paint on practical machinist forum, to do epoxy right seems like painting a show car...

I definitely don’t have the ability for epoxy. The working time is ridiculously short plus no experience with doing it to me is going to be a waste of money.

There are flooring adhesive strippers they seem to involve using a drop cloth over them to slow evaporation and letting them work then scrape the loosened adhesive up.

[K Frame]

Trying to use a grinder/abrasive/sanding wheel will do nothing for you...  except ruin the wheel.

The best way is to use something like this in combination with a scraper:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Klean-Strip-Green-1-128-fl-oz-Adhesive-Remover/1000659697?placeholder=null&gclid=8b8f9428b4f7171a2b57f4f1745fb26a&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=8b8f9428b4f7171a2b57f4f1745fb26a

[Boomhauer]

Holy Jesus the carpet is stuck good. I got a good scraper and it’s coming up but damn they weren’t shy about the glue.

Gonna see what the store has for stripper later today. I think I’m going to pressure wash to remove as much possible first then strip then wash again.

Also looked at paints to see what to go with. Not sure yet what I’m gonna pick at this point.

[JTHunter]

After removing as much as possible, the grinder might be a good option.  It would also roughen the surface of the concrete, giving the paint more "profile" on which to adhere.
If this concrete is in contact with the ground, I strongly advise you to use a special primer meant for below grade concrete.  It will help keep moisture from migrating through the concrete over time, keeping any metal or wood parts of the furniture from being damaged by that moisture.
Good luck !

[Boomhauer]

Trying to use a grinder/abrasive/sanding wheel will do nothing for you...  except ruin the wheel.

The best way is to use something like this in combination with a scraper:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Klean-Strip-Green-1-128-fl-oz-Adhesive-Remover/1000659697?placeholder=null&gclid=8b8f9428b4f7171a2b57f4f1745fb26a&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=8b8f9428b4f7171a2b57f4f1745fb26a

That’s the one I went with due to nothing else in stock locally. It got most of the glue snd carpet mix that was left after pulling the carpet up. Taking plenty of scraping even after being softened up. I am going to have to do another coat of stripper on the remnants that I couldn’t get up today

After I get all this residue off I am thinking of scrubbing with TSP to clean up the last of the residue. The floor stripper seems to act like a soap for and doesn’t want to rinse cleanly