Rotex to the rescue

[John Skidgel]

I've been trying to get smelly burlap off the subfloor in a house I just bought. The Ro 150 with 40-grit granat is making the job manageable. Luckily we won't be moving in until December and luckily the burlap is only in this room (phew!). If you're curious, I have a blog post with pictures and videos.

Maybe a RAS would be faster for this job and I got the RO 150 and 90 sanders for exterior paint prep (and got them 20% off with the recondition sale  [big grin]), but it's awesome to know that I can use Rotex mode and take the glued down burlap away in a jiffy. The abrasives are awesome and the dust collection lives up to its name too. Thanks Festool!

 

[Tinker]

As I watched your YT demo, i wondered if the Planex might work for a job like that?
when i was only 38, jobs like that did not bother me much. 
Now i am 39 (for more years than i wasn't, i can neither bend over or kneel for any length of time (measured by dots).
I don't think it would work for the exact same project that you were doing as the pad covers too much surface area.
But for a sanding job involving only plywood base, I wonder if the Planex might be handy.

Tinker

 

[duburban]

looks like you took that disk past the breaking point. was the backing pad ruined?

my ro150 saved me recently also on a floor refinish, old door refinish, old sash refinish. rotex mode with 180g is my favorite prep combo. i can go from 60 right to finish for paint.

 

[Motown]

John, thanks for sharing. It's great to see another bay area guy, I'm in San Leandro, here on the FOG. When I first bought Granat paper I remember thinking, "Man, this stuff is expensive." and then I used it and realized I was getting at least twice, maybe three times, the usage. Glad I decided to try it and will continue use every chance I get. Please keep us posted on how your job ends up.

 

[Paul G]

RO 90 rescued me last night on a cabinet job, needed to fit square cabinets into not so square corners that had too much tape/mud build up. Rather than make a mess of the wall I got busy with the RO90 and some 80 grit, shaving down the back corners. It ate it up and the staples didn't much slow it down. Cabinets snugged in nice. A belt sander would have gone quicker but that wasn't on hand and would have made a big mess.

 

[duburban]

RO 90 rescued me last night on a cabinet job, needed to fit square cabinets into not so square corners that had too much tape/mud build up. Rather than make a mess of the wall I got busy with the RO90 and some 80 grit, shaving down the back corners. It ate it up and the staples didn't much slow it down. Cabinets snugged in nice. A belt sander would have gone quicker but that wasn't on hand and would have made a big mess.

i just used a belt sander on a floor with a ct26, dust collection was nearly perfect but a better situation than yours.

 

[Paul G]

RO 90 rescued me last night on a cabinet job, needed to fit square cabinets into not so square corners that had too much tape/mud build up. Rather than make a mess of the wall I got busy with the RO90 and some 80 grit, shaving down the back corners. It ate it up and the staples didn't much slow it down. Cabinets snugged in nice. A belt sander would have gone quicker but that wasn't on hand and would have made a big mess.

i just used a belt sander on a floor with a ct26, dust collection was nearly perfect but a better situation than yours.

I'd like to know more since my belt sander needs replacing anyway.

 

[John Skidgel]

RE: Durban--The backing pad was ok. I was checking the disc frequently--mostly when I noticed I went over a staple (and I was trying to feel for them and pull them out beforehand), or I wanted to clean out burlap from the dust holes. Certainly need to be careful!

RE: Tinker -- The living and dining room have really nice wide cedar tongue and grove wall panels (some oriented vertically and some horizontally) and I'd like to preserve them. There's a few rooms that will need new drywall, and I'd love to get a Planex (and I could stand using it as you suggest), but I don't know that I could justify it as a homeowner/diyer.  I guess I could sell it pretty easily.

RE: Motown -- Thanks! Nice to know I'm not alone in the East Bay (although when I go to Truitt & White, I always learn a lot from other Festool owners while waiting). I hope to document the stuff as much as I can to share info with friends and family (both my dad and father inlaw are want to see what I'm up to). I think I'll cross post here when I use Festool, have found a great use for one of the tools, or have questions. I plan to do a lot of the demo and clean up before our contractor can start in September / October and I plan to do all the paint and finish carpentry work since I'm very picky and want to save money. I also have a few desires to do built-ins and a mudroom with a bench.

 

[Paul G]

I've been trying to get smelly burlap off the subfloor in a house I just bought.

I'm trying to understand how burlap got there in the first place. Was it a backing for another flooring material like linoleum that was glued down?

 

[John Skidgel]

The original house plans (from 1946) spec'd oak flooring, but since the only flooring is in the living room, I'm assuming it became carpet.

The carpet and carpet padding I took up was probably 10 years old. So maybe the burlap was carpet padding (or maybe insulation) for original carpet? The burlap looked fine  (just smelled like cat urine in several spots). I don't think it was under tile since it would have been fairly beat up if the tile was glued down and it's a bedroom. There's tile in the hall way and kitchen and neither of those installs have burlap. Luckily this is the only room with burlap.

I guess I could have kept it there and hoped that covering it up would mask the smell, but we're considering going with warmboard-r  or gypcrete (radiant heat) over the subfloor and I figured having the subfloor clean would be helpful. I also didn't want to replace the subfloor.

 

[Paul G]

The original house plans (from 1946) spec'd oak flooring, but since the only flooring is in the living room, I'm assuming it became carpet.

The carpet and carpet padding I took up was probably 10 years old. So maybe the burlap was carpet padding (or maybe insulation) for original carpet? The burlap looked fine  (just smelled like cat urine in several spots). I don't think it was under tile since it would have been fairly beat up if the tile was glued down and it's a bedroom. There's tile in the hall way and kitchen and neither of those installs have burlap. Luckily this is the only room with burlap.

I guess I could have kept it there and hoped that covering it up would mask the smell, but we're considering going with warmboard-r  or gypcrete (radiant heat) over the subfloor and I figured having the subfloor clean would be helpful. I also didn't want to replace the subfloor.

getting it gone was the right plan, smelly stuff has a way of still smelling even when you try and cover it up.

 

[L.Alexander]

slow speed rotex and 25g paper will do more. a RAS115 would be a bit more risky as it's a pure rotary sander used for shaping.

lew

 

[Kevin Stricker]

Next time check out a Spider Scraper for your Sawzall.  You will be amazed.

 

[Paul G]

Next time check out a Spider Scraper for your Sawzall.  You will be amazed.

I used that to remove some stubborn sheet lino from concrete slab, it's hard to imagine it not tearing up plywood. Have you had success doing that without mutilating the ply?

 

[John Skidgel]

Hey Lew--24 grit saphire at a setting of 3 blew that burlap away!  As long as I kept it balanced, I didn't have to apply pressure. Thanks!!!! I owe you a beer for that one.

I met with a flooring sales guy today who used to install and he said he used to hand scrape this stuff off. He was impressed with the speed and ease of using the Rotex.

 

[Tinker]

I've been trying to get smelly burlap off the subfloor in a house I just bought.

I'm trying to understand how burlap got there in the first place. Was it a backing for another flooring material like linoleum that was glued down?

Some DIYers come up with some rather outlandish ideas.
Tinker