# Removing linoleum flooring



## aarkvt (May 26, 2004)

I purchased my first home (fixer upper) in January and have been doing quite a bit of work on it. I'm an avid DIY'er and eager to learn. Next week, my kitchen cabinets arrive so I'm about to start my kitchen remodel. I want to replace the linoleum floors with prefinished hardwood. Any advice on this matter is very much appreciated.

I spoke with a carpenter I was considering for the cabinets and he said to leave the linoleum as a moisture barrier. Then I spoke with another contractor and he said to absolutely remove it. He said if I ever got a leak somehow, the water would have no way of getting out from between the linoleum and the hardwood, which would mold, mildew, and eventually rot. I have a plywood subfloor

When I ripped up the linoleum to tile the bathrooms, the adhesive didn't come up very well. That was ok b/c I spread thinset down, then put down 1/4" Hardibacker. Is there a slick way to clean off large sections? I'd like to avoid renting a drum sander. Any non-toxic chemicals?

Thanks in advance.


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## Floorwizard (Sep 24, 2003)

Well, first, you need to find out how old the lino is.
Then I would need to know what kind of wood is going down...engineered? or solid?
this will help in my answer.


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## aarkvt (May 26, 2004)

The linoleum (per the previous owner) was less than 1 year old. I'm putting in solid 3/4" maple. 



Florcraft said:


> Well, first, you need to find out how old the lino is.
> Then I would need to know what kind of wood is going down...engineered? or solid?
> this will help in my answer.


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## Floorwizard (Sep 24, 2003)

It's not about moisture, because lino or not, when you nail into it, it pretty much negates any moisture barrier anyway.
What it is about is resiliency. Vinyl is too resilient to nail solid wood into. It needs to be nailed directly to the Plywood without vinyl on it. Too much cusion could make the wood perform lousy....gaps..ect...
Remove the vinyl or install new plywood on top of it.


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## aarkvt (May 26, 2004)

Any tricks on removing the remaining adhesive after pulling up the linoleum?



Florcraft said:


> It's not about moisture, because lino or not, when you nail into it, it pretty much negates any moisture barrier anyway.
> What it is about is resiliency. Vinyl is too resilient to nail solid wood into. It needs to be nailed directly to the Plywood without vinyl on it. Too much cusion could make the wood perform lousy....gaps..ect...
> Remove the vinyl or install new plywood on top of it.


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## Don Benham (Mar 17, 2004)

If you remove the vinyl and it's over luaunn(1/4 inch plywood) it's easier to pull the luaunn as well. Often(after only a year) the vinyl is stuck pretty well, and will destroy the luaunn anyway. Acouple of good prybars and cut the vinyl at the subfloor seams.

Or if hieghts not an issue, go over it with a new layer of subfloor.

Hope this helps
Don


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## Floorwizard (Sep 24, 2003)

I couldn't have said it any better.


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