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Why does nobody warn you about scraping old mastic off a slab that sat under carpet since 1974
Got called to a house in Toledo where the carpet had been glued down since 1974, and I figured scraping the mastic would be a couple hours of extra work before I could lay the new pad. It ate up 9 hours across two days, mostly because every scraper blade I owned dulled in about 10 minutes and I kept stopping to wonder if the slab was too chewed up to float over. Anyone got a trick for softening old mastic besides renting a grinder, or do you just eat the time and charge for it?
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stellahill3d ago
Did you ever try soaking it with hot water and a little dish soap before you scrape? I used to just muscle through old mastic with a scraper and a hammer, figured heat and elbow grease were the only real answers, but a guy on a crew showed me that a pump sprayer full of very hot water left to sit for 20 minutes softens that old glue way more than you'd expect. The catch is you have to work in small sections or it dries back up on you, so it's slow going either way. I still bill the extra time, because nobody ever warns you and it is not your fault the last guy glued carpet straight to the slab.
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