Having a real tough time removing what I think is old carpet glue from stairs...advice needed pls!

[dazzystar]

Hi All,

I've removed the carpet from the stairs with a view to sanding down, staining and then applying a lacquer finish.

The house was built in 1947 or thereabouts and I'm going to assume the original carpet runner was stuck down with the edges painted. The problem I'm having is that even with a heat gun and a scraper the glue is so impregnated into the wood that it's a back breaking job.

The paint isn't so hard to remove. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove it?

I'm using a quality scraper and a delta sanding with 40 grit paper.

Thanks
Daz

 

[Tigercubrider]

Pictures would help. I would have thought that 40 grit would work on almost anything
The other option might be cladding but it's a different look

 

[dazzystar]

Here you go. The top image is the untreated tread & riser, the bottom one after heatgun, scraper and 40 grit (and a lot of hard work!). You'll notice there's 3 shades of what appears to be paint, the darker coloured brown stuff is what's causing the problem and may not be glue, perhaps undercoat? Either way it's an absolute nightmare to remove so any tips would be great. Also, you'll notice in the bottom image, the central part of both the tread and riser are a stained colour, no idea why it's there and lots of sanding won't shift it. Perhaps the backing of what ever carpet they used back in the 50's could have stained the wood?

 

[Tigercubrider]

I think it's more likely a brown varnish?
When my parents bought our house in the mid 60's, the woodwork was all stained a dark brown colour that was a pig to remove. The house was built in 1928.
Back in the day they loved a toffee like goo that they plastered over everything.

What you think of a glue may be what previous owners left after having a similarly awful time cleaning the sides, so they could have a white edge to a runner? Perhaps they just thought that sanding the centre was a waste of time?

 

[dazzystar]

There's some other stains of the same colour as you can see too. I'm hoping that once I come to put my dark oak stain down it won't be too bad but in the meantime I've got to find a way of getting rid of the undercoat of that's what it is. Are you saying the dark staining in the middle is varnish or the stuff on the edges?

 

[Tigercubrider]

I am wondering if the whole lot was dark brown, and at some point someone removed the stuff on the edges, giving up on the middle

 

[dazzystar]

We bought the house around 25 years ago and had it completely redecorated and can't remember what was on the staircase but think it was all carpet. The people we bought it off had lived in the house since it was built. I understand in the 50's it was common to have a carpeted runner with painted edges. I'm not saying the brown part of the edges isn't varnish but it looks more like a paint then something clear.

 

[dazzystar]

I guess I don't have much of a choice but trying to melt the stuff on and sanding. Can't buy the decent Nitromors anymore and probably wouldn't want to use it due to the fumes.

 

[opps]

I am inclined to think that the dark areas are wood that has never has any kind of finish and that over the years the oils in the underlay have leached into the wood.

I don't think you will be able to sand it out.

Liberon sell a wood bleach that may or may not help. Might be advisable to email the the photos before buying any though.

https://www.liberon.co.uk/product/wood-bleacher/

Edit-------

The crisscross diamond shape in the presanded images is consistent with the oils in underlay. Imagine those oils being able to soak into untreated wood, in time they will spread.

 

[opps]

Can't buy the decent Nitromors anymore and probably wouldn't want to use it due to the fumes.

That is definitely not glue.

The key ingredient in old skool Nitromors is methyl chloride. MC paint strippers are still available but are restricted products because they contain carcinogenic agents. In theory they are only available to industrial users but you can find them on fleabay.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I think old wood used to be darkened with van dyke crystals? It was crushed walnut shells that made a dark stain.

 

[opps]

I think old wood used to be darkened with van dyke crystals? It was crushed walnut shells that made a dark stain.

That may well be the case but why would anyone only stain the area that would have been covered by a stair runner?

 

[Tigercubrider]

Because someone may have cleaned the edges at some point and thought "sod this for a laugh" when they realised that the middle was due to be covered with carpet?

 

[opps]

Because someone may have cleaned the edges at some point and thought "sod this for a laugh" when they realised that the middle was due to be covered with carpet?

I guess that is a possibility but again it seems unlikely. You may well be correct but I can't see that anyone would have gone to that much trouble. Additionally, the lines are too regular.

I have encountered something like this before. Fortunately, the customers were having stair runners fitted so the dark wood wasn't an issue.

I honestly don't know if it can be sanded back. Sure, a decent random orbital sander will be able to remove 0.5mm but the stains may be deeper than that and random orbital will be of little use on the rounded nose or the scotia beadings.

 

[dazzystar]

Thanks for the replies. I've managed to get rid of all the old paint layers with a heat gun and a scraper...bloody back breaking work. I'm going to start sanding tomorrow with 40, 80 then 180 grit before staining. Worst comes to worst we'll end up with a darker stain in the middle...nothing I can do really!