Showerthought: I was wrong about that old glue-down vinyl in a Phoenix kitchen

I was pulling up this nasty 80s sheet vinyl, thinking the slab underneath would be clean, but the mastic was still sticky like tar after all these years. I tried scraping for an hour, then remembered a guy at the supply house saying to use a specific citrus-based remover, so I got some and it came up like butter. What's your go-to trick for a really stubborn old adhesive?

3 comments

3 Comments

hunt.rowan14d ago

The 80s mastic in Phoenix out of all places is still sticky? I mean Phoenix dry heat usually turns that stuff into concrete basically. I pulled up some 70s stuff in a Tucson bathroom once and it was like scraping rock, so hearing yours was still tacky after all those years sounds crazy. Maybe the slab was always shaded or something, or there was some kind of moisture barrier trapping the oils. Idk, that just doesn't compute with the desert climate in my head.

james_clark3mo ago

Why bother with special products? A scraper and some elbow grease always works for me.

taylor.jessica3mo ago

Elbow grease" sounds great until you're as clumsy as me, james_clark. I'd probably take a chunk out of the wall with a scraper. A little help from a product saves my drywall from my own two hands.