Vinyl Floor Removal

The most common places in the house where you'll find vinyl flooring are your bathrooms and kitchens. There are times when the entire house is covered in vinyl floors. Cleaning and maintaining these floors requires much attention as it changes color over a period of time. When my friend moved into her new apartment, all we could see was chipped and torn flooring. Now don't get me wrong, these floors can be a relief compared to floor carpets as it takes less time in cleaning it. But the issues start when you just can't stand the sight of discolored, torn, and stained floors. So, what do we do about that? Removing the flooring can be one of the solutions. Then let's get down to business and help you with an easy DIY project.

Remove the Flooring

The basic steps for to remove the flooring can be performed with minimal effort and few tools. Take a look at how easy this task is without the help of a handyman.

Materials Needed

• Putty knife
• Rubber gloves
• Paint thinner
• Mask or clean cloth

Step #1: Wear old clothes (not the ones you like), rubber gloves, and a mask or place a clean cloth over your nose and mouth. Open the windows in the room and the rest of the house/apartment. This job needs a lot of ventilation.

Step #2: Some flooring has linoleum (floor covering) which needs to peeled off. You can do so with your hands or use the putty knife as well.

Step #3: Bend down like a dog on your hands and knees to pour some paint thinner on the exposed area. This is the area where you just lifted the linoleum from. Make sure to smear the paint thinner so that it goes deep under the old floor. The paint thinner will make the glue underneath slippery enough for removing the flooring.

Step #4: Now we scrape off the old floors. With the putty knife, carefully lift every piece. Some of the floor pieces will come off easily, but others might take up some of your time. The paint thinner has the tendency to evaporate rapidly, so work accordingly. If you want, you can take small patches on the entire floor and apply the paint thinner in those areas.

Remove Flooring from Concrete

When the flooring is on top of concrete, the task is a bit tougher than before. If you thought normal floors were bad, then you are in for a tedious day of work. Although, it's not an impossible task. Here's the step by step instructions on how to remove the flooring from concrete.

Materials Needed

• Floor scraper
• Acetone
• 5 inch putty knife
• Razor scraper
• Boiling water
• Rubber gloves
• Razor knife
• Cement backer board
• Floor leveler
• Cement screws

Step #1: With the razor knife, you will cut the floor in 2 X 6 foot divisions. This will make the job a bit easier. Slide the floor scraper under the side of the floor piece and check whether it comes off. If yes, then you're a lucky person. But if it doesn't, then no problem; we'll handle it. The razor scraper will help you get the floor out.

Step #2: Tear the vinyl cover off. If you encounter any problem, just rip off the vinyl and leave the padding and reveal the adhesive underneath. When the area of the floor is large, you can also opt to rent an electric scraper for a hardware store near you. But I would advice you to do it by hand as the electric one tends to be a bit tough to handle.

Step #3: Pour boiling water directly on the exposed adhesive area. Wait for few minutes and then start scraping the floor again. Although it's a messy job, you will definitely end up finishing your project. Grab some old rags so you can prevent the water from spreading everywhere.

Step #4: Another way would be to use acetone. If the above mentioned methods didn't work, then wear your rubber gloves and mask before you pour some acetone over the floor. Let the acetone soak in for some time; then with the 5 inch putty knife, start scraping the remaining adhesive. Open the windows in the room and house to ventilate the area of your work.

Step #5: As a last alternative, place new flooring over the old one. If some of the pieces came off and the others were just too tough to scrape, then you need to fill in the gap underneath with the floor leveler. You will also have to place a layer of cement backer board. Get everything in place with the help of cement screws.

If you're not too keen on removing the flooring completely, you can even try replacing the flooring in a short amount of time. The techniques mentioned in the article will help you with your vinyl floor removal project. Be careful while you're working, as you will be inches away from boiling water, acetone, and/or razor scraper.