[Greenbuilding] removing tar moisture barrier

[Jason Holstine]

Hey Alan, et al,

The sealer to protect against remaining outgassing was probably AFM Safe
Seal or Hard Seal. A sealer for concrete efflorescence was probably AFM
Watershield or EcoProCote AcriSoy.

For removing the mastic, you can try Franmar Mastic Remover (from soy
esters).

If the resulting subfloor is reasonably clean and smooth, you can put a mat
down, such as Whisper Wool (thin wool with 4-mil vapour retarder (the wool
naturally wicks water, serves as a noise dampener and a thermal break)) or
cork.

Good luck,

Jason Holstine
Amicus Green Building Center
www.amicusgreen.com



-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Alan Abrams
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 9:11 PM
To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] removing tar moisture barrier



   We did just that in my condo--took up the parquet and hauled it down to
the
   Community Forklift, a materials recycling center in Bladensburg, MD--then
   scraped the worst of the ridges of the "tar" or asphalt based
("cut-back")
   mastic,  and  covered with two coats of a sealer formulated to control
   outgassing from the subsurface.  It was easy to apply with a medium nap
   roller and dried very quickly.

   If Jason Holstien of Amicus is reading, perhaps he can remind me what the
   sealer was.

   The surface was still too rough for a really thin flooring material--for
   instance a sheet application of linoleum.  however, with a resilient
cushion
   it was fine for "click-type" cork and bamboo tiles; any floating
engineered
   floor would do ok; so would ceramic tile over a Schluter type membrane.

   but mercy, to try and remove ancient asphalt from a concrete deck...i'm
   getting blisters just thinking about it.

   BTW--we were most gratified to see someone purchasing the old parquet on
a
   subsequent visit to the Forklift.
   Alan Abrams AIBD
   Abrams Design Build LLC
   202-726-5894 o
   202-291-0626 f
   www.abramsdesignbuild.com
   
     What are you going to put down for floors instead? Would it be possible
     to just leave the tar there and put another floor over it?
     --Leslie
     Mike Kelly wrote:
     > We are getting started on remodeling our house. When we are done, the
     > houes will be quite open. We removed the wood floors in the study and
     > found a tar moisture barrier all over the slab. Any suggestions for
     > getting this off without the use of harsh chemicals?
     >
_______________________________________________
Greenbuilding email list
List info:
http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_listserv.repp.org
List email: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org Managed by BuildingGreen, Inc.
http://www.buildinggreen.com
      publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(r) Hosted and
archived by REPP / CREST http://www.crest.org