Removing old adhesive

[MelBrown]

 

About ten years ago our dishwasher flooded our house and the old laminate floor had to be ripped up, including the beading around the edge. My ex husband never bothered to remove the adhesive that was holding the beading around the kitchen skirting. So there is now adhesive that is about 16 years old around my kitchen skirting. Any ideas on how to remove it? I have been trying to scrape it off without much success. 

[Mathy]

Hi. @MelBrown - if the adhesive is hard (which would probably be liquid nails, which is what it looks like) then sanding is about the only way to remove it. You could try glue remover, but it’s expensive, messy and just as much work as sanding.

If it’s soft/squishy feeling, then it’s possibly some sort of silicone or caulk, in which case scraping as much off as possible with something like a paint scraper, then sanding should do the job.

Hope this helps, cheers Deb

[MelBrown]

@Mathy thanks yes it is hard. I was hoping to avoid sanding because I don’t want to damage the laminate of the plinth but I guess I will just have to be careful. Cheers. Mel

[Mathy]

Hi @MelBrown (Mel) - You can mask off “delicate” areas. I recently used that tearable, tough cloth tape to protect the lower edge of my toilet when the grinders were doing the concrete.

I’ve seen painting masking tape (the blue) survive an orbital, random sander going over it. 

Maybe worth a try? Cheers

[MartyH]

Would you consider replacing the kickboard @MelBrown? Might be easier than trying to get the glue off.

[MelBrown]

@MartyH Yes I am starting to think it might be the better option.  Either that or sanding it and then painting it.  I have already replaced some of it because rather than carefully remove the beading on the last section he just ripped it off removing a lot of the laminate with it.  I actually bought a cheap kickboard from Ikea and cut it to the right length so I will have to see what my options are for the rest of it. 

[ProjectPete]

Hi @MelBrown, I suggest sand/paint or replace to give you the best finish. It'd be a real shame to put a bunch of work into it to not be entirely happy with the end result.

[MelBrown]

@ProjectPete yes I have decided that I will replace rather than try to work at removing the adhesive.  I am now trying to source a replacement laminate.  Thanks