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Swede
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  • Denver, CO
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Arts and Crafts Bungalow located on second floor

Started Jun 17, 2010

Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
8 Replies

Started this discussion. Last reply by Michael Cunningham Sep 3, 2009.

Dryer vent through roof?
6 Replies

Started this discussion. Last reply by Foxglove Mar 20, 2009.

 

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Swede posted a discussion

Arts and Crafts Bungalow located on second floor

I purchased an typical two-story building in a small Kansas town.  The first level is a conventional turn-of-the-century design with high ceilings and tin ceiling tiles, lath and plaster walls, etc.  However the second story's floor plan is an arts-and-crafts bungalow with a large dining/living room with a wooden arch, a small gas-ceramic fireplace with a wooden mantle, three-over-one double hung windows, french doors filled with glass panes.  Has anyone heard of a bungalow floor plan on the…See More
Jun 17, 2010
0 Comments
Michael Cunningham replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"You're probably finished by now, but Kim Meldahl has the correct approach - hit it with a heat gun and scrape what's left while it's still warm. Exercise care to not scorch the floor. It will be sandable ater that. This tar paper will…"
Sep 3, 2009
Kim Meldahl replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"We recently removed tar paper from some wood strip flooring by first using a heat gun to soften the tar paper, pulling/scraping up as much as we could, and then dissolving the remaining gunk with paint stripper (which liquefied it pretty quickly).…"
Jul 29, 2009
ruth miller replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"We had the black stuff left from the 1960's tile, in the kitchen. We tried lots of ways to remove it. We finally called several friends to help us scrape and sand that crap off the floor. It was an awful mess, lots of man hours, but we finally…"
Jul 21, 2009
Glen Dettman replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"citrus degreaser will cut that goo...and it will smell like you've opened an orage stand!"
Jul 11, 2009
Daniel C. Hiebert replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"Wet rags, aluminum foil. and iron to heat. This will soften tar paper making it easer to scrape. Repete to remove remaning tar paper and glue."
Jul 3, 2009
Daniel C. Hiebert left a comment for Swede
"Tar paper glued to wood floor. This works for me, wet rags on tar paper cover with aluminum foil use an iron to heat. You want it steaming hot for a couple mimutes, use gloves to uncover and scrape off top layer of tar paper. Replace wet rags, foil,…"
Jul 3, 2009
Jeff & Sue Ellen Smith replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"The picture looks like it is the adhesive. I have removed tar paper by getting a putty knife between the paper and the floor and scraping. I have also had hard black goop (Technical Term) that was really difficult to get off. I ended up using a…"
Jun 22, 2009
Swede replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"That's a good idea, but I wonder if the hot water would leak through the floorboards, past the floor joists and into the ceiling of my downstairs tenant. Thanks though."
Jun 22, 2009
Susan replied to Swede's discussion Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor
"Have you tried very hot water? I accidentially knocked over a bucket of hot water in my kitchen when we were trying to get the black stuff up that was left under the last layer of flooring. I was not sure what it was, but it looked like tar paper.…"
Jun 22, 2009
Swede posted a discussion

Remove Tar Paper from Wood Floor

I own a two-story building in a small Kansas town, with a tenant (art gallery) in the first floor commercial space. Upstairs in the unoccupied residential space, asbestos-laden floor tiles were successfully and properly removed, but tar paper was left behind. I'm looking for an "easy" and "safe" way to remove the tar paper from the floor without making the downstairs tenants run away from the fumes. I'll leave it up to the forum to define "easy" and "safe" in this context. The tar paper is in…See More
Jun 22, 2009
8 Comments
Foxglove replied to Swede's discussion Dryer vent through roof?
"I was visiting a friend recently- in a one story house in CA- and I noticed his dryer was right next to an exterior wall yet it didn't vent there. He said it vented out of the roof. He hasn't lived there long and his dryer seemed fairly…"
Mar 20, 2009
Charlotte Moreau left a comment for Swede
"Swede, I would love to see some pictures! It sounds so similar to our building, except ours isn't brick. Ours was built in 1912, and is 32'x72'. Part of the width is an addition, kind of an afterthought, because it's barely…"
Mar 11, 2009
Swede left a comment for Phil
"My building is in "downtown" Lindsborg. I've driven through Newton. Good looking town with nice hospital."
Mar 10, 2009
Swede left a comment for Charlotte Moreau
"Charlotte: This building is located in "downtown" Lindsborg, Kansas. Built in 1899, this 20' x 65' brick commercial/residential building contains its original stained glass windows and metal stamping on either side of the door.…"
Mar 10, 2009
Swede replied to Swede's discussion Dryer vent through roof?
"Thanks for your thoughts. In some respects, the design is wide open, as the existing second floor's floorplan hasn't changed from 1899. The local state historic society has weighed in on what constitutes primary design elements which will…"
Mar 7, 2009

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New to historic rehabilitation of commercial/residential properties in small town Kansas

Comment Wall (2 comments)

At 8:04pm on March 11, 2009, Charlotte Moreau said…
Swede,
I would love to see some pictures! It sounds so similar to our building, except ours isn't brick. Ours was built in 1912, and is 32'x72'. Part of the width is an addition, kind of an afterthought, because it's barely younger than the main part. The main floor was originally business oriented, a habadasher, general store, and a soda fountain at one time. There was space for three retailers. The upstairs was a dance hall and meeting room. The Odd Fellows met up there and they eventually bought the whole building in 1922. For many years the downstairs was an antique/general store, and most recently an antique/junk shop. It will take many years to get it back to 'rentable' condition, mainly because only a handful of volunteers are workin on it. But it is a labor of love, to see it slowly come back to life.
I'm not real familiar with how all this works...how can I send you pictures of our building?
Thanks for sharng...I look forward to hearing and seeing more.
Charlotte
At 6:40pm on July 3, 2009, Daniel C. Hiebert said…
Tar paper glued to wood floor. This works for me, wet rags on tar paper cover with aluminum foil use an iron to heat. You want it steaming hot for a couple mimutes, use gloves to uncover and scrape off top layer of tar paper. Replace wet rags, foil, iron and let it steam. Remove and scrape off tar paper and glue. Remaning glue can be wiped up with wet sponge.

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