50 yr old carpet padding...

[zurgswife]

Is almost impossible to remove.....

Thank goodness in the early 20,30,40's they liked to wax the wood floors alot.....that is only thing that is saving my floors from not being damaged..

We have cleaned our carpets with an extractor numerous times...well that turned old brittle padding into old padding that is stuck to the wood. I'm having to scrape it off in small sections. I really think the heavy waxing is the only thing saving my floors...

 

[msdznyduck]

I had this same problem.....It was solid, and hard as a rock. No amount of scraping, wetting with water did anything.....I asked on www.doityourself.com , and a "floor person" told me to apply mineral spirits, let it soak in for a little bit (didn't tell me how long, I let it soak approx 1/2 hr). and then scrape it off.....worked!! Make sure you use a plastic scraper, though so you don't damage the wood.
Good luck, I know its a big job, but worth it in the end

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks for the tip...I'll try that on the really tough areas..

 

[KaterBell]

We were going to battle with 50 year old carpet padding too - it's melded right to our floors. We can't even see the floors underneath! Once we had the flooring guy over to see, I decided that it's not worth the effort, and I'll just get the new floors that I want in this house, not refinish what someone else put down back in the day way before we bought this house.

I wish you good luck in your flooring adventure! I'm sure it'll look incredible when it's done!

 

[zurgswife]

Actually the mineral spirits is working nicely.....At least I was smart and I'm only tackling a small area at a time...Right now it is the entry only about 7X5....

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

FIFTY?????????

Are you serious?????? I'm in the carpet business and have never heard of padding that old still down. That would mean the carpet is 50 years old also and I can't imagine how that looks.

On the other hand, sounds like a great museum piece. Wonder how much you could get for 50 year old carpet on eBay.