Subject: [Shop-talk] Floor scraper...but it's not that easy

From: Scott Hall <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2015 13:02:26 -0600

So, the garage had part of the floor covered with vinyl tile.

No sweat. Bought a floor scraper from Harbor Freight. Nice tool. Very
sharp, thick blade on the end of a pole. Good for smooth concrete subfloors.

Now I'm moving to the bathroom, which isn't over a slab--it's hung off the
side of the building over a crawlspace. Which means a wood subfloor.

The scraper is too sharp. The vinyl tile is at least two layers deep (they
just tiled over the old tile) and it flexes. So running the scraper over
it, it either bites into the tile and binds up (it can't bear against the
rigid concrete subfloor), or it bites into the wood floor itself.

I need...a dull(er) scraper. Maybe. Something I can lever under the tile
that won't bite into the wood or tile. Or do I just need something else?
Or...how can I remove vinyl tile from a wood subfloor? The tile is so old
that it's disintegrating and I can't pull it up a tile at a time. But it's
also too crumble-y to try to get a piece at a time--it's take months just
to do the 10-by-6 area.

Looking for advice--the garage mahal has a bathroom, and it's going to be
awesome. As soon as I get this vinyl tile up.

Scott
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From: "Randall" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2015 11:53:09 -0800

> that won't bite into the wood or tile. Or do I just need 

What about filing a taper on the end of the scraper, making it more like a wood chisel?  With some practice, maybe you could hit the
edge of the tile at just the right angle, so the sharp edge would get under the edge of the tile, then the natural lever action as
the scraper moves would lever the tile away from the wood.  You might also want to round or blunt the corners to make them less apt
to dig in.

-- Randall  

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