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FRIKI-DIKI-TIKI t1_iy4vpxl wrote

I had the same thing done at my house they put a liner down with tar mastic and then tiled over the wood floor. I tried everything and then remembered some words of wisdom my grandfather gave me about getting tar off of vehicles and that was diesel fuel liquifies tar. So after trying everything, I came up with a plan to get a mop and bucket, diesel fuel, play sand and a wire brush on a broom handle. I would mop the diesel fuel onto the floor, let it sit for a little while, hit it with the brush and it would come right off with no effort, but it would mix with the diesel fuel and make a black thick liquid. So I would throw the play sand on it to soak up the liquid. Then use a broom to move the sand around until it was too soaked to pick up anymore, then I would sweep it onto a shovel and dispose of that sand.

Every other way was an inch by inch method, you cannot sand it off, scraping it off does not work, and strippers do not lift it off very well. Using diesel to liquify it, was a smelly and messy process, but I did about 1400 sq ft. in a day this way, where as all the other methods I tried combined only netted me about 100 sq. ft over the course of several days.

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bryan_pieces t1_iy6s1gn wrote

Dude you mopped your house with diesel fuel? Using it outside to remove tar from a vehicle is an entirely different circumstance. Holy shit.

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FRIKI-DIKI-TIKI t1_iy9d7v4 wrote

Yep it worked great, it got sanded and refinished, so it was a momentary pain in the ass to restore some Dade county pine floors. It is not like I mopped it with gasoline, Diesel is not explosive or highly combustible.

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silver_chief2 t1_iyat3jq wrote

>WOW. Thanks. So you put on the diesel on the mastic. The how to you remove the goo?
>
>Years ago I removed black tile adhesive gunk from concrete using solvent. I was going to go to a bar after ward. I drove onto the interstate off ramp. I was higher than a kite. The cop let me off with a warning. I went home instead.

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FRIKI-DIKI-TIKI t1_iyc0tiu wrote

With a wire brush, and then sand, you use the sand to soak up the tar/diesel goo. It is a pretty easy process.

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SummitWanderer OP t1_iy5fgke wrote

The good news here is that I've only got less than 250 sq. feet to do, so if I have to work in small sections it's not a deal breaker. I am wary of using diesel though, maybe I could try a small patch.

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FRIKI-DIKI-TIKI t1_iy5ph2x wrote

I have not tried it, but you could try baby oil or peanut oil. I don't know if it is because tar and diesel are both petroleum products that it dissolves it or if it is because diesel is a thin oil.

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