Help!!How to get Bitumen off Oak Parquet

[StevenCollins]

Hi my name is Steven and I need some help.

I recently purchased approx 40m2 of reclaimed oak parquet flooring complete with a layer of bitumen on the back. I have read conflicting opinions about what the best thing to do about this bitumen.

Some argue that the bitumen can be left on with the only implication being that the adhesive will take longer to set.

Others argue that the bitumen has to come off as the bitumen will throw the floor levels out.

I don't know what to do. Having researched this dilemma I've found that I have many weeks of toil ahead of me getting this bitumen off. I have heard that there is a machine that can plane the bitumen off the bottom. Is this true and how much am I likely to have to fork out to get such a machine? If this is just a myth what is the best way to get the bitumen off the bottom?

I'm sure that this question has been asked hundreds of times before but I would really appreciate it if someone could clarify this for me. The floor would look absolutely gorgeous but I am feeling apprehensive about the whole process and wondering if I should stop before I start.

Many thanks

Steven

 

[wotan]

I laid a floor from reclaimed teak parquet tiles ex works laboratory, these blocks were coated with bitumen.
I removed it with a scraper, on no account use heat, bitumen is brittle and will come off easily when cold.
As my blocks exhibited different amounts of wear, I made a fixture to hold the blocks in my milling machine, using the now bitumen free face as a datum, I machined the top of each block the the thickness of the blocks exhibiting the most wear (on average) I used a 4" spiral slab mill on the horizontal arbour.
I took about a month to do all the blocks I needed, and was knee deep in teak shavings, but it was worth while. Same milling machine was used to cut the 45 degree angle required for the herringbone pattern.

Wotan

 

[will2000]

gas bottle with blow torch attached will make quick work of it.

torch the bitumen for about 5 seconds to soften it then scrape off

Or if the blocks are thick enough you could cut the back of on a table saw

 

[WoodYouLike]

Through them in the freezer, the bitumen gets even more to chisel off easier.
Remember bitumen is toxic so using a blow torch is not really recommended

 

[HaydnExport]

i have just done this with a 25m2 floor, and by far the quickest was to use a 'hook shave' and scrape the bitumen off, then plane 0.5 millimetres off the back so it was back to bare wood then sand the old varnish/filler off the edges using a bench sander. This took well over 60 hrs but the results were brill.

 

[StevenCollins]

Thanks for all of your responses, I've got a thicknesser now which is working fantastically on the blocks with less bitumen but stopping with those blocks with more on them. The freezer idea sounds like a good one as does the hook shave so I might check that out.

Thanks again

Steven