Kitchen floor, mid demolition.

Here’s the kitchen floor after two layers of crud came up. Note the lovely tarpaper and gunk on the otherwise untouched and remarkably intact hardwood.

I have the same “tarpaper” problem in my house I just bought and I am trying to strip the floors down to the bare wood. How did you get that stuff off? Some kind of a stripping agent? If you can give me any kind of advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

Laurie in Lancaster, PA

Laurie,

So far, there seems to be no good method for removing this stuff. I tried Formby’s citrus stripper, which is slightly less toxic than the pure acetone stuff, with little or no result.

I have talked to a fellow who claims that using a handheld planer will work, which I haven’t tried yet. It seems to me the blade would gunk up with tarpaper quickly, given my experience with sanding my upstairs floors, but again, I haven’t tried it yet.

If I find something that works, I’ll let you know. Good luck-