Floor Removing Machine

Function

• Floor removing machines scrape away flooring materials including carpet, ceramic tile, stone, hardwood, epoxy, rubber flooring and carpet. Oscillating blades chip, peel back and remove materials glued to the subfloor. The blades of these machines can be adjusted to move at different positions and speeds. Since flooring removal machines rest on wheels, users can either maneuver the machines themselves or program the machines to self-propel.

Types

• Floor machines are categorized as strippers and scrapers. While scrapers are used for heavy-duty jobs covering large, wide areas, strippers handle smaller jobs and tighter areas. Scrapers and strippers also differ in the types of flooring they remove. Scrapers are generally used to pull back soft flooring such as carpet and vinyl rubber. Strippers work better on hard flooring such as hardwood and ceramic tile. However, scrapers can also partially remove tile or wood if it is not glued down too hard onto the subflooring.

Features

• Floor removal machines can remove floors at speeds up to 30 square feet per minute. Machines are battery-powered, electric or propane-powered. Fittings and accessories including cutting heads and carbide shanks can be interchanged depending on the floor type and user needs. For example, users can install beveled cutting-edge blades, angled mastic removal-blades, razor blades or ceramic tile rippers. These blades can reach widths of up to 27 inches.

Benefits

• One of the primary advantages of using floor removal machines is that they save time and energy when stripping away floor coverings and adhesives. Without floor removal machines, workers would also have to constantly stoop or kneel when scraping and peeling away pieces of floor by hand. In addition, average removal rates for some scrapers and strippers can reach as high as 3,000 square feet per hour. Strippers can also reach floor removal rates of 800 square feet per hour depending on the manufacturer.

Considerations

• Keeping floor removal blades sharp helps extend the lifetime of the blades and improves machine performance. Machine scraper and stripper blades can be resharpened using hand grinders and grinding heads. Specialty Equipment Rentals, an equipment rental company, recommends regularly sharpening blade, stating, “With the removal of soft flooring (like carpet, vinyl rubber floors and mastic) it’s not uncommon for an operator to get 5,000 square feet or more out of a single blade, just by resharpening it after every couple thousand feet of use.”