Removing Bitumen Adhesive From Concrete Floor

When removing an existing floor bitumen is easily identified as a black substance.

Removing bitumen adhesive from concrete floor.

When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos. It is also a reasonable waterproofing agent and as a result quite successful as both an adhesive and a moisture barrier. Asphalt is some nasty oily stuff. However if you do this odds are that some adhesive will be left behind in the process.

Remnants and residues left over aren t pleasant to look at and make it impossible to add new decor or refinish to the concrete. Fortunately there are some good strong concrete cleaners on the market that can cut the oils in asphalt and lift the discoloration from your concrete walkway or drive. Keep the grinder moving to avoid taking off a layer of the concrete along with the glue. And if the people applying it aren t careful it can get onto concrete and create an unsightly difficult stain.

In the past many types of flooring including semi flexible tiles sheeting and wood floors were installed using bitumen based adhesive. Remove as much of the glue as possible from the concrete using a concrete floor grinder. Concrete floors aren t the eyesore they used to be.