removing bitumen from solid floor

mattk1234

Right I have lifted the beutiful 3 layers of Lino in my new house and am faced with a bitumen floor onto concrete.

I am planning to lay yorkstone. Now this bitumen stuff i hear is nasty and can't be laid on. So i am working out how to remove it/and get back to concrete/ a work around. from my internet searches, asking mates and asking my dad i have the following options
1. some solvent e.g. kerosene which does dissolve it ( tried a small area with meths) which allows it to be scraped. not keen as a total waste of solvent and a lot of hardwork.. messy but maybe neccesary?

2. Bash it with a hammer.. should crack.. its not that brittle. Its not soft but certainly not breaking up.

3. My dad suggests getting a scrabbler to bash it up.. This is the really serious way and currently the favourite proposition which could work great but can't find anybody online thats suggested/ done it? maybe its too damaging?

4. Making a sand cement PVA mix and covering it followed by PVA and then lay on top.... But will the mix set? this would be the quickest and cleanest solution but will it work?


Your help/ experience is very much appreciated.

The final solution is to put a floating solid wood floor down but i really want stone so thats a last resort.

Matt

tony6403

Won't laying a stone floor on top of the concrete create a step at the doorways(s)?
Is the "bitumen" just some form of adhesive for floor coverings or was it applied to stop damp?
Before the ball acher of removing it , is it worth breaking out a small area of concrete to see if there is a membrane under the concrete.
Depending on the circumstances it may be better to take out the whole floor to put in a membrane and deal with levels.
Difficult to advise without seeing it and not knowing the age of the property.

jcb208

I laid a ceramic floor on top of bitumen adhesive used to stick old marley tiles down never caused me a problem and this was done 10 years ago

gravitytolls

The bitumen is likely to have been used for damp proofing rather than adhesive. You should be able to lay your stone tiles directly over it, but if you're worried, and assuming you've got the height area, you could use a leveling compound first.

mattk1234

the house is pretty old. Main body of house is from 17th century but the bit i'm on is an extension that looking at the 'old maps' i think was probably put on just after WWII. Its a solid floor construction with concrete scree (not sure whats underneath. maybe stone?) The bitumen i think has been used as an adhesive to stick some rather tasteful blue and white vinyl like tiles down as opposed to being used as a damp proof. There is parquet flooring downstairs too in the bathroom.

regarding levels. I'm sounding like a right cowboy now. I was planning on having 'steps' between areas and adjusting the doors accordingly. is that really not the done thing? the bathroom is downstairs and dining room is open plan into kitchen i was planning on stone in kitchen up to dining room. step to mark disctinct areas and to put the stone extensing into the bathroom. sort of creating an area that can be wet as its at the back door so muddy boots etc and then a dry warmer area as you step into the dining room and living room beyond.

cheers for all your advice

Matt

gravitytolls

Nowt wrong with steps... who dictates 'done things' anyway? Personally I love steps and split levels, quirky and individual.

Hintza

Think long and hard about steps, they could be a real pain in the backside in the future.

Kiran

Just a very quick word to the wise, bitumen flooring adheisive can contain asbestos, it's bound within the bitumen so basic measures are all that is required if you are removing it. From your description of the tiles they sound like they could be Marley tiles also containining asbestos but again only basic measures required. Although it's a bit more expense, I would get a kango and break up and remove the top of the screed and then make good with a leveling compound/new screed. Any traces of the bitumen seem to cause new latex or smoothing compounds to blow prematurely.

HTH

mattk1234

http://www.flickr.com/photos/asbestos_pix/3895898374/in/set-72157615697045471

hhmm.. yep i just googled that type of tiles and the bottom layer does look like that.. better be careful. cheers

Kiran you talk about using a kango would a scrabbler not do the same job?

Kiran

A scabbler would do quite a lot of surface breaking which would, unless you were extremely diligent, probably leave some bitumen residue which stops the latex or smoothing compound from bonding to the floor. Using a kango would also get you below the bitumen and are less likely to release fibres. Just my personal preference, unfortunately both will be labour intensive

muckybutt

With the possibilities of the bitumen and tiles containing asbestos you will need to separately bag everything up and dispose of it at a licenced waste disposal site that takes acm's.

I would also be very wary about using a kango and scabbler for removal of the material, both these tools create dust which is the last thing you want if the material does contain asbestos.

If you are going to go down that route then seal the room off completely, wear the correct ppe and disposable overalls, as you drill keep the area misted down with water to minimise dust and particle release.
Once done wipe all exposed surfaces down unless you covered them up, and decontaminate yourself and the tools you were working with.

It might be minimal risk but all it takes is one fibre.