What if you don’t have a heat gun? A hair dryer may work, but chances are that the hair gun doesn’t get hot enough to do the job efficiently. Try for yourself and see whether the hottest setting on the hair gun makes the removal of the topper any easier.
You can rent these machines from a tool rental company.
Either way, prepare to use goggles and a respirator mask to filter out any potential asbestos fibers from the more porous parts of your body. These should be used for safety regardless of whether you think your lino flooring contains asbestos. Another way to make possible asbestos tiles or sheeting less dangerous is to dampen in with water before removal. Dry asbestos gets airborne relatively easily, even if you can’t see it. Wet asbestos doesn’t get airborne as easily. Be careful about dampening the underlayment if you have wooden floors. See the next couple of steps below.
You can try to use the heat gun and automatic oscillating scraper for removing the adhesive, just as you removed the lino topper. You may, however, find that it’s difficult to get the oscillating scraper blade underneath the adhesive. Either way, the heat gun softens the adhesive and makes it easier to remove.
Here’s how you get the boiling water onto the adhesive or underlayment without creating an absolute mess or, even worse, flooding. Line sections of the floor with towels — towels you’re okay with losing. Pour the hot water over the towels, letting the towels absorb most of the water but heat up the adhesive anyway. Wait 15 minutes before removing the towels. You can also cut the floor open in several places using a sharp blade and pour a stripping material into the gaps to help loosen the linoleum. Next scrape away with a manual scraper. You’ll want a larger scraper for moistened adhesive, as it comes off much easier than dry adhesive, giving you plenty of opportunity to take a wider berth.
This process is pretty quick compared to the dry method of removing adhesive. A 100 square foot floor should take less than two hours.
