I have an old house and when we pulled up the 3 layers of tiles the concrete is black. This is from the stuff they used way back when to lay tile. In my research I have found all kinds of stuff on how to paint new cement. Can I just paint or stain it after I clean the floor. Or do I have to get all the black stuff off the floor first.
That black stuff is the glue/rubber cement. You can paint over it but you will have the texture of the glue to deal with. You can go to your local equipment rental store (united/sunbelt/nations rent) and get a floor sander with a cement scrubber pad to clean all this off and then paint it and it will be like new after you put the sealer on it.
You can try the rubberized paint meant for garage floors, it is durable and comes in many different shades/colors/textures. Just be sure that the floor is as clean as possible before applying this (or any) paint to the cement since the ability of the paint to stick to the cement will depend upon how clean and residue free the cement base is. Look into acid washing the cement to create a good, clean surface for your final finish.
Jack, I recently remodeled an Office Max Store and we had the same adhesive under the tiles of this old stirp centers flooring. Here's what worked inexpensively: Get some low odor mineral spirits and soak the floor until the adhesive begins to break down and release. Now scrape the glue up and repeat until the floor is clean. I'm going to suggest that you paint this floor with an epoxy or xylene based paint. I recently used an Ace Hardware Xylene Based Concrete Paint, used for wharehouses, garages and airplane hangers that was incredible in respect to coverage and durability. Mike Lonergan TradesProfessional, Inc.
heat guns work well for paint that will peel
