I am an asbestos abatement contractor serving in Denver. We run into this material all the time. Definitely test for asbestos prior to removing this kind of material if it was installed before 1980. If the material contains asbestos, hire a general abatement contractor. If it does not, here's the best way to remove it; wet the material and scrape off the bulk with a 4 or 8 inch scraper depending on the square footage. After you have removed the bulk, pull all staples and nails to get a smooth surface. Using a wood plainer (app $100 @ Home Depot) adjusting it at 1/8 of an inch, go over the entire surface with the plainer. This will leave your sub floor looking brand new. Make sure you remove all staples and nails, otherwise this will damage your plainer blade. Detail all edges with 4" scraper.
+Weston Brinkerhoff I wouldn't be at all due to the age of your home. However, always take precautions especially if you plan to do a huge remodel project in your home. Hiring a building inspector prior to removing large quantities is always the safest choice and most "bulk" test will run around $250. Other than that, I wouldn't worry.
Although people sometimes use the words interchangeably, vinyl and linoleum are completely different. This is a vinyl floor. Linoleum is a natural product made from linseed oil, cork, wood flour and other natural materials, and the color goes throughout the flooring. With vinyl, the color is a laminated image on a paper backing that you can peel off, like this floor. Also, use a lot of caution with a heat gun. It's very easy to catch your house on fire with one.
THANKYOU! You saved us probably days and days of pulling up vinyl. We used my hair drying to melt the adhesive while slowly pulling. Took off the paper backing at the same time so we didnt' have to scrape as much. I didn't have a heat gun, so the hair dryer was a great alternative!
I used a different approach. First, I peel off the top layer as much as I can, then I spray water onto the paper layer. After a couple hours of soaking, the paper and glue just come right off.
@Dr. Snooz, its possible, try to use just enough water to wet the paper, do it section by section and dry with towel after. I learn from the contractor.
@@1danleung Fair enough. Of course, that reduces it to a methodical, painstaking and time-consuming process not much different from the one outlined in the video here. The point is that the floor this poor guy is working on is about the worst one possible with no easy solution, aside from maybe screwing an underlayment over top of it.
I used an old ion and a wet towel to soften the Linoleum. a lot less fumes than a heat gun and the wet towel made me more at ease if there was a chance of asbestos in the paper backing. Finally I stropped the glue from the floor with a citris based paint stripper, 6.5 square meters in two days
Never thought of heat! Had so many layers to remove, took a large razor I bought at the hardware store and used mineral spirits to remove the glue, anyway you do it, it is going to take you awhile!!! Thanks for the tip!
I figured that during this approx 6 minute video, you removed approx 2 feet of material. If you were doing a 8x15 kitchen area, it would take 12 hours. I sure hope there's a faster way....
Having done pre-renno demolition in the past, I'd take a slightly different approach: Score the lino with a utility knife creating 6-8" squares (no need to be perfect, of course). Soak the whole thing with hot water for about 20-30 minutes. Get a start with a small scraper or a putty knife -- a flatbar works well, too. Then get an ice-breaker. For those who don't know, this is like a garden hoe but without the 90 degree angle. Put your back into it. There's no easy way.
Well, apparently DARIN isn't happy that this guy, Jenniesgarage, wanted to show people, generically, "how to heat, scrape, and remove vinyl flooring." I didn't know that Jennisgarage made any specific recommendations about when to use this method, or was saying this method was better or worse than another method. Thanks, jenniesG, this video was very helpful for ME, I think I'm one you made this video for, I have NOT been doing flooring for 21 years, and am therefore turning to youtube ;-)
i remember having to pull up old fooring just like this and it was a nightmare and very time comsuming but well worth it in the end. wish i knew a heat gun would have made it easier. i think my hands cramped for days. btw it took me almost three days scraping the old stuff off and maybe 30 mins putting the new vinyl in.
We did this, it works well and it quick. The fumes from the linoleum or glue can be toxic so we used masks and got the animals out of the house and opened the windows.
I tried everything from renting a heavy duty floor scraper from Home Depot to a manual floor scraper to the heat gun method. The only effective way I found to get the linoleum + paper backing up is to heat it all at once and remove it all at once. Removing it in layers caused a lot more tearing with the paper backing. However I've still got adhesive on the floor that I'm thinking I might just leave as I've got to put a new layer of paper down anyway. I just did our 15 x 20 kitchen and would definitely not recommend doing it this way. It took approximately about 20 hours to do it. I would highly recommend just hiring someone for the removal process.
I have the same problem. There is an old big layer of adhesive down. I read you havevto remove that, or it will turn your new flooring yellow and invalidate any warranty.
Alton Penny Thanks Alton, I am only planning to install tile, and hoping I won't have to remove the old linoleum because I'm pretty sure the subfloor is wood. Thanks again for your reply!
We haven't put any heat to ours yet. It had ceramic tile laid over it and some of it came up with the tile where very little adhesive was used. A larger scraping tool is very effective, I'm using an ice chipper and sharpened the edge with a grinder. Much faster but I'm going to get a helper with a iron or heat gun.
Watch out if your lino/vinyl has paper backing like this. It's normally asbestos,.I've hacked through it in my own house and used an electric multi tool to cut through it! 😟
You should have at least warned people that some vinyl flooring contained asbestos. Having it tested is a wise and economical investment. You might have also mentioned that using an actual scraper, not a margin trowel, would make the job easier. Your old sheet vinyl was over particleboard. Plywood makes the job much harder, but it makes a far better underlayment. Please see my profile before discounting my comments.
Thanks! I need to do this for the kitchen, dining room, two bathrooms and an entrance...I wonder if I could just convince my wife to put a rug over top? :)
Thanks for the vid, the key tool I was missing was the heat gun. Yes, it is laborius. So what else are you going to do, carpet over it? In your kitchen?
If you don't have a heat gun than use an iron. I took my my wife's clothes iron, turned it to cotton, and just pressed against the linoleum just enough to loosen up the glew. Worked great and probably even better than the heat gun.
Not as hard or time consuming. Looked here for a tip,but this is the way I was going already. I used wallpaper remove to get the paper up. Then found out water worked just as well.
I did not have a heat gun, and I did not want to go buy one. But I did have a nice steamer for my clothes which seemed to work quit well, but I am sure a heat gun would have worked a lot better. Thanks for the tip good for DIY!
Faster Tips: halogen bulb shop light works much better/faster than the heat gun. Turn light upside down onto safety cage. Use a flat pry bar under tiles/cut area. A steam wall paper remover may loosen the backing for scraping, depending on type. (Asbestos hazard reduced)
I have some floor from 1955 in my kitchen. It doesn't look like this tho. I can't figure out what it is. I just want it gone 😭. It's definitely not vinyl, so I was thinking linoleum. It's hard but water will leave a mark if left on in one spot too long. How do I figure out what I've got?
There is a product called Planipatch by MAPEI. If your backing material is solidly glued to the floor, then you can do a "skim coat" over it following the product instructions let it set an continue with your install.
My linoleum was put down in 1947, and the glue/backing is black. It’s almost like dried tar. Not coming up easily with this method. Any other suggestions? I need to replace part of the subfloor before installing a new toilet
Hi. I am in the process of removing very old vinyl flooring from terrazzo flooring. I have been working with a scraper and a rubber mallet to remove the vinyl. I am planning to use a heat source beginning tomorrow. I do not have a heat gun but I do have a professional strength hair dryer. Would this be sufficient?
We have linoleum glued onto nice hardwood floors... No idea why my grandparents thought it was a good idea. We're trying to rip it off. EDIT I've been reading things like this may contain asbestos... We already ripped some of ours off, I honestly cant tell if it has it or not and not entirely sure when ours was installed, everyone gives me different answers, but we are also kinda poor and can't afford professional removal or testing... I really don't know what to think, should we just wear masks from now on and try to clean it as much as possible and have the windows open? Ours also doesn't seem to have this paper under it, but I think its kinda become one with it, the only stuff left behind is chunks of glue. I don't know what to think about all these cancer things anymore... I read a comment about that only people who worked with asbestos in factories for years are the ones at risk and short exposure wont hurt you, I don't know what to believe, people also say eating food cooked over a fire gives you cancer... People say bacon gives you cancer, the sun can give you cancer for crying out loud... I don't know who to listen to. If everything gives you cancer I don't understand...
The dust from asbestos is bad to breathe so everything need to be kept damp and dustless as possible. My husband cut the huge pieces of asbestos at Boeing in the 70’s and the whole warehouse breathed it and He is still fine but he only did that job for a year. Good luck!
My sympathies to you sir. You're dealing with the worst, worst case scenario here. On some vinyl floors you can simply grab a corner and pull to get the entire sheet out in one simple pull. In other cases, like this one, the stuff clings tenaciously and only comes up in tiny pieces. That's a sucky job, but you can still make it work by pulling off the top layer, misting the paper layer and scraping it off. In THIS case, however, you're dealing with a particle board subfloor. That crap is known to fall apart on its own after a couple decades, and swells up at the merest hint of water. You can't mist that down. The hope here is that once you chip your way past that doorway, the stuff will start coming up easier elsewhere. If it doesn't, you can think about some kind of underlayment (likely) or pulling out the kitchen cabinets and replacing the subfloor (not so likely). Good luck with that one.
You don't use a razor scraper with a wood subfloor... you'll chunk it to death and have to replace the subfloor. If you have concrete slab, you bet, it works great. Slice it into 1 to 2 foot wide strips, peel those off and scrape away! You can rent the big 1" wide ones at most good rental stores.
on wood floor if theres not more than 1 layer, i would cut lose any of the old flooring that is not tight to the subfloor, then i would float the old flooring with ardex patch. another thing that could been done is to go over the entire floor with multiply cause most of the time takeing up old vinyl will leave the wood subfloor in pretty rough shape. on concrete subflooring its way easyer to remove if the backing of the vinyl stays on floor just spray it with water bottle sprayer or on very large areas you can wet mop the entire floor wait couple minutes for it to soak up the water then scrape right up, do not spray with water on a wood subfloor! been installing flooring 25 + years i will tell you this. most manufacturers will not stand behind warranty, unless you follow there instructions to the letter when you install it ,most will say do not install over old vinyl flooring, in the case of wood subfloor i would install multiply if warranty states you must either remove old or use multiply
Alton Penny Hi Alton, I am a first-timer trying to replace my linoleum floor with ceramic tile. just so I can be sure I understood you, are you saying to install multiply over the old vinyl floors, or to still remove the vinyl and use multiply instead of another type of underlay, say, cement board? Or are you saying to remove everything and replace the wood subfloor with multiply?
SaraMarie320 no cement board unless your installing tile ! only remove old vinyl on concrete floors, but on wood floors with vinyl on it ,go over whole wood floor vinyl area with multiply, alot of installers will try and float over old vinyl floors with ardex feather finsh ,but in order to keep warranty valid, you will need to ask for factory reccomendations are on your vinyl flooring that you purchase
I wonder what power level (wattage?) is for your heat gun. Perhaps most standard heat guns are about the same. Also, I have 2 layers of linoleum (or vinyl) on cement sub-floor (slab). Hopefully, this might be easier than if it were on wood, otherwise it looks like I'll need a good 10 hours for a 300 sq ft floor to remove the crap. Do you have a preference for your kitchen floor, like ceramic, porcelain, or wood? Thanks for your helpful video!
Holy crap man. That would take forever! For $7.00 you can get that up very quickly with a razor scraper. They sell them at Home Depot. Ask for a .4 in. Razor Scraper
Hello, quick question. I am removing mine from my bathroom and I have already removed everything. Unfortunately I am left with paper looking stuff all over the floor like in 4:29. Is it okay to install over it without having to remove all the left over residue? It would take me hours to scrape everything off. Should I put some type of adhesive underneath, before I install new vinyl tiles?
I know this was 7 years ago but hopefully others will read. Absolutely do NOT leave the cardboard backing. I am removing one that was done 15 years ago that the person left the cardbord backing and half of it is all moldy. If you must leave the cardboard backing, encapsulate it will paint.
This method is about the only real way to remove the flooring for most of us WITHOUT hiring contractors or using equipment that most seniors cant use so they go back to the old way of doing things. I found my 70+ year old mom using a small hand axe and hammer, worked prettying good to if you don't mine a few nicks in the wooden sub floor
This was very helpful.... also--my flooring isnt brittle and comes up WAY easier than this one! Honestly---if mine was as hard as this I think Id just tear up the luan and start fresh!
I'm currently doing this, the only downside is that to remove the luan, you need to unscrew a bunch, as well as remove some nails, but in order to see/find them, you gotta get through the linoleum -_-
Seven layers here. Took the top five off a month ago in one evening and did the last two tonight. All that's left is to get the last paper and adhesive buts stripped from the hardwood below it...lol!
Another good way is to cut the lino into strips about 60mm wide. Then run a steam mop over a small area for a couple of minutes. The lino should just peel away
I have some 35 year old linoleum still left in my house that has no paper backing, just straight excess glue and linleum. gonna try the heat gun/hair dryer now. the floor stripper couldn't even make it happen.
Sometimes you will have more than one layer of linoleum or vinyl...because renovators are lazy, cheap a**holes! It took me 3days to remove all that crap, even broke my scraper! I found it easier to use a floor stripper & heat gun...still tiring, though! Thank god for knee-pa! Also...if your going to use a heat-gun, use a fan and good ventilation...you don't want to breath those fumes, I'm sure it ain't healthy!
Take the lino and k3 board togeather....hopefully it's no p.l glue under it....if your floor squeaks when u walk on it then that tells u it's not glued down with pl.
Good God this looks like its a good 2-3 days solid at that rate.No one actually still buys this stuff do they? Has it gone the way of Wallpaper hopefully?
By any chance, did you test the floor for asbestos? My linoleum has a similar set up with that paper like backing. The linoleum is hard n brittle, while the paper is glued to the floor. I am going to test to see if it is asbestos. What other material could this paper backing be?
why are you worried about asbestos? Are you afraid of cancer? Asbestos isn't even dangerous in minimum quantities. And all cases reported to be fatal are from factories where they were exposed for decades every single day in huge amounts.
+Chris M What Chris said... I'm an electrician and have to cut through asbestos for wiring - all cases of asbestosis were like Chris said, people who worked with it in factories etc.
+Michael Jlailaty hey idiot , no amount is safe and I hope you get cancer for being so careless, but hey when you don't go to school this is where you work , I'll use you as an example for my kids not to follow
Ryan Smith You can get cancer by eating bananas due to its radioactivity. You can get cancer by taking care of your lawn. You can get cancer when you're 50 ft away from a person smoking. You can get cancer due to pollution. It's not a big deal. What IS a big deal is exposure of workers and negligence due to it by big corporations who make a profit to withhold information regarding huge projects.
I would recommend that you watch a video on youtube to learn how to remove old flooring before you try to make your own video on how to remove flooring because your method of removing flooring could use some tweaking...
so at that speed you should be done in 2 years! wow....got to be an easier way. Like just ripping up the whole sub floor layer and buying/installing new sub floor....wouldn't that be far easier??
This flooring material should be illegal!
Byron Stanga lmao
I second that notion
Here, here!
hahahhahaha - so many things should be - like insulated ductboard - earthen building for the win!!
Mate, 100%. This stuff was invented by the devil
I am an asbestos abatement contractor serving in Denver. We run into this material all the time. Definitely test for asbestos prior to removing this kind of material if it was installed before 1980. If the material contains asbestos, hire a general abatement contractor. If it does not, here's the best way to remove it; wet the material and scrape off the bulk with a 4 or 8 inch scraper depending on the square footage. After you have removed the bulk, pull all staples and nails to get a smooth surface. Using a wood plainer (app $100 @ Home Depot) adjusting it at 1/8 of an inch, go over the entire surface with the plainer. This will leave your sub floor looking brand new. Make sure you remove all staples and nails, otherwise this will damage your plainer blade. Detail all edges with 4" scraper.
Luis Balmaceda Thanks for the tips. Luckily this was installed in 1988 so I should be safe.
+Luis Balmaceda my home was built in 1999. Do I need to be worried about asbestos? Thanks
+Weston Brinkerhoff I wouldn't be at all due to the age of your home. However, always take precautions especially if you plan to do a huge remodel project in your home. Hiring a building inspector prior to removing large quantities is always the safest choice and most "bulk" test will run around $250. Other than that, I wouldn't worry.
Luis Balmaceda how do you test for asbestos?
@@erinbowman1680 Open your wallet big time.
Although people sometimes use the words interchangeably, vinyl and linoleum are completely different. This is a vinyl floor. Linoleum is a natural product made from linseed oil, cork, wood flour and other natural materials, and the color goes throughout the flooring. With vinyl, the color is a laminated image on a paper backing that you can peel off, like this floor. Also, use a lot of caution with a heat gun. It's very easy to catch your house on fire with one.
THANKYOU! You saved us probably days and days of pulling up vinyl. We used my hair drying to melt the adhesive while slowly pulling. Took off the paper backing at the same time so we didnt' have to scrape as much. I didn't have a heat gun, so the hair dryer was a great alternative!
cool I was wondering about that - or hot water
I used a different approach. First, I peel off the top layer as much as I can, then I spray water onto the paper layer. After a couple hours of soaking, the paper and glue just come right off.
Sadly, your method on the floor in this video will leave all the particle board subfloor swollen and flaky.
@Dr. Snooz, its possible, try to use just enough water to wet the paper, do it section by section and dry with towel after. I learn from the contractor.
@@1danleung Fair enough. Of course, that reduces it to a methodical, painstaking and time-consuming process not much different from the one outlined in the video here. The point is that the floor this poor guy is working on is about the worst one possible with no easy solution, aside from maybe screwing an underlayment over top of it.
Thx love you
Yes water or heat is the way to go.
I used an old ion and a wet towel to soften the Linoleum. a lot less fumes than a heat gun and the wet towel made me more at ease if there was a chance of asbestos in the paper backing. Finally I stropped the glue from the floor with a citris based paint stripper, 6.5 square meters in two days
Never thought of heat! Had so many layers to remove, took a large razor I bought at the hardware store and used mineral spirits to remove the glue, anyway you do it, it is going to take you awhile!!! Thanks for the tip!
I figured that during this approx 6 minute video, you removed approx 2 feet of material. If you were doing a 8x15 kitchen area, it would take 12 hours. I sure hope there's a faster way....
Having done pre-renno demolition in the past, I'd take a slightly different approach: Score the lino with a utility knife creating 6-8" squares (no need to be perfect, of course). Soak the whole thing with hot water for about 20-30 minutes. Get a start with a small scraper or a putty knife -- a flatbar works well, too. Then get an ice-breaker. For those who don't know, this is like a garden hoe but without the 90 degree angle. Put your back into it. There's no easy way.
Or skip all that and go to Home Depot and rent a floor stripper machine
Thanks for this. I just pulled up some linoleum in our bathrooms, it came up easily.
Now I know how to get rid of the paper bits left behind.
Well, apparently DARIN isn't happy that this guy, Jenniesgarage, wanted to show people, generically, "how to heat, scrape, and remove vinyl flooring."
I didn't know that Jennisgarage made any specific recommendations about when to use this method, or was saying this method was better or worse than another method.
Thanks, jenniesG, this video was very helpful for ME, I think I'm one you made this video for, I have NOT been doing flooring for 21 years, and am therefore turning to youtube ;-)
I'm an asbestos surveyor and the paper backing on this lino is 100% white (chrysotile) asbestos.
is it expensive get rug tested
How would you suggest to remove this?
i remember having to pull up old fooring just like this and it was a nightmare and very time comsuming but well worth it in the end. wish i knew a heat gun would have made it easier. i think my hands cramped for days. btw it took me almost three days scraping the old stuff off and maybe 30 mins putting the new vinyl in.
We did this, it works well and it quick. The fumes from the linoleum or glue can be toxic so we used masks and got the animals out of the house and opened the windows.
Thanks for the tip, it is important to have good ventilation.
I tried everything from renting a heavy duty floor scraper from Home Depot to a manual floor scraper to the heat gun method. The only effective way I found to get the linoleum + paper backing up is to heat it all at once and remove it all at once. Removing it in layers caused a lot more tearing with the paper backing. However I've still got adhesive on the floor that I'm thinking I might just leave as I've got to put a new layer of paper down anyway.
I just did our 15 x 20 kitchen and would definitely not recommend doing it this way. It took approximately about 20 hours to do it. I would highly recommend just hiring someone for the removal process.
I have the same problem. There is an old big layer of adhesive down. I read you havevto remove that, or it will turn your new flooring yellow and invalidate any warranty.
Thank you for uploading! Sharing what we learn is so great.
Let me just grab the heat gun from my wives closet where she keeps her hair dressing stuff.
Ha-ha! Hair dryer's are designed for a few minutes' use. It would likely burn out, which she might be burned up about too.
Alton Penny Thanks Alton,
I am only planning to install tile, and hoping I won't have to remove the old linoleum because I'm pretty sure the subfloor is wood.
Thanks again for your reply!
We haven't put any heat to ours yet. It had ceramic tile laid over it and some of it came up with the tile where very little adhesive was used. A larger scraping tool is very effective, I'm using an ice chipper and sharpened the edge with a grinder. Much faster but I'm going to get a helper with a iron or heat gun.
Watch out if your lino/vinyl has paper backing like this. It's normally asbestos,.I've hacked through it in my own house and used an electric multi tool to cut through it! 😟
I got it up by cutting it into strips with a utility knife and then pour boiling water on it.
It sucks no matter how you do it. There is no easy way.
Better than just yanking at like i am😥
You should have at least warned people that some vinyl flooring contained asbestos. Having it tested is a wise and economical investment. You might have also mentioned that using an actual scraper, not a margin trowel, would make the job easier. Your old sheet vinyl was over particleboard. Plywood makes the job much harder, but it makes a far better underlayment. Please see my profile before discounting my comments.
Thanks! I need to do this for the kitchen, dining room, two bathrooms and an entrance...I wonder if I could just convince my wife to put a rug over top? :)
Thanks for the vid, the key tool I was missing was the heat gun. Yes, it is laborius. So what else are you going to do, carpet over it? In your kitchen?
If you don't have a heat gun than use an iron. I took my my wife's clothes iron, turned it to cotton, and just pressed against the linoleum just enough to loosen up the glew. Worked great and probably even better than the heat gun.
Did you buy your wife a new iron after that?
Thank you for your video! We are remodeling my pantry and there is some old linoleum we are trying to remove... I hope your trick works! Thank you.
Not as hard or time consuming. Looked here for a tip,but this is the way I was going already. I used wallpaper remove to get the paper up. Then found out water worked just as well.
I did not have a heat gun, and I did not want to go buy one. But I did have a nice steamer for my clothes which seemed to work quit well, but I am sure a heat gun would have worked a lot better. Thanks for the tip good for DIY!
Wow great tip thanks, looks like you can get a lino floor up in under 12 to 10 days or so! How do your knees feel after that?
i stripped a bathroom floor this morning using my trusty wallpaper steamer - easiest time i ever had with this dreadful chore.
Rumor has it he is still peeling this shit off to this day!
He actually started with the bathroom when he was in his 20s and is just getting to the kitchen now!
this will take forever
Faster Tips: halogen bulb shop light works much better/faster than the heat gun. Turn light upside down onto safety cage. Use a flat pry bar under tiles/cut area. A steam wall paper remover may loosen the backing for scraping, depending on type. (Asbestos hazard reduced)
Excellent tip .. thanks!
I think it would be easier to just pry up the subfloor. LOL
Only to find 3 million staples!
@@sw3929 we’re renovating and that’s so true I had to pull up like 3k staples that were like 1 inch deep that was the worst.
I said the same thing 😳
I have some floor from 1955 in my kitchen. It doesn't look like this tho. I can't figure out what it is. I just want it gone 😭. It's definitely not vinyl, so I was thinking linoleum. It's hard but water will leave a mark if left on in one spot too long. How do I figure out what I've got?
There is a product called Planipatch by MAPEI. If your backing material is solidly glued to the floor, then you can do a "skim coat" over it following the product instructions let it set an continue with your install.
Awesome thank you very much for this video it's just what I needed to. Time to break out my heat gun
What happens if you apply the cement board directly to the linoleum or to the paper underlayer?
My linoleum was put down in 1947, and the glue/backing is black. It’s almost like dried tar. Not coming up easily with this method. Any other suggestions? I need to replace part of the subfloor before installing a new toilet
If it's black in color be careful, it's probably asbestos.
Hi. I am in the process of removing very old vinyl flooring from terrazzo flooring. I have been working with a scraper and a rubber mallet to remove the vinyl. I am planning to use a heat source beginning tomorrow. I do not have a heat gun but I do have a professional strength hair dryer. Would this be sufficient?
+Christine Osborn It might be. Doesn't hurt to try.
We have linoleum glued onto nice hardwood floors... No idea why my grandparents thought it was a good idea. We're trying to rip it off.
EDIT
I've been reading things like this may contain asbestos... We already ripped some of ours off, I honestly cant tell if it has it or not and not entirely sure when ours was installed, everyone gives me different answers, but we are also kinda poor and can't afford professional removal or testing... I really don't know what to think, should we just wear masks from now on and try to clean it as much as possible and have the windows open? Ours also doesn't seem to have this paper under it, but I think its kinda become one with it, the only stuff left behind is chunks of glue. I don't know what to think about all these cancer things anymore... I read a comment about that only people who worked with asbestos in factories for years are the ones at risk and short exposure wont hurt you, I don't know what to believe, people also say eating food cooked over a fire gives you cancer... People say bacon gives you cancer, the sun can give you cancer for crying out loud... I don't know who to listen to. If everything gives you cancer I don't understand...
The dust from asbestos is bad to breathe so everything need to be kept damp and dustless as possible. My husband cut the huge pieces of asbestos at Boeing in the 70’s and the whole warehouse breathed it and He is still fine but he only did that job for a year. Good luck!
do a good cleanse with enzymes and herbs and lots of lemon juice and vit C
My sympathies to you sir. You're dealing with the worst, worst case scenario here. On some vinyl floors you can simply grab a corner and pull to get the entire sheet out in one simple pull. In other cases, like this one, the stuff clings tenaciously and only comes up in tiny pieces. That's a sucky job, but you can still make it work by pulling off the top layer, misting the paper layer and scraping it off. In THIS case, however, you're dealing with a particle board subfloor. That crap is known to fall apart on its own after a couple decades, and swells up at the merest hint of water. You can't mist that down. The hope here is that once you chip your way past that doorway, the stuff will start coming up easier elsewhere. If it doesn't, you can think about some kind of underlayment (likely) or pulling out the kitchen cabinets and replacing the subfloor (not so likely). Good luck with that one.
You don't use a razor scraper with a wood subfloor... you'll chunk it to death and have to replace the subfloor. If you have concrete slab, you bet, it works great. Slice it into 1 to 2 foot wide strips, peel those off and scrape away! You can rent the big 1" wide ones at most good rental stores.
Using a razor scraper now. Works perfectly fine. Just .. don't chunk it to death? - not sure what else to say.
on wood floor if theres not more than 1 layer, i would cut lose any of the old flooring that is not tight to the subfloor, then i would float the old flooring with ardex patch. another thing that could been done is to go over the entire floor with multiply cause most of the time takeing up old vinyl will leave the wood subfloor in pretty rough shape. on concrete subflooring its way easyer to remove if the backing of the vinyl stays on floor just spray it with water bottle sprayer or on very large areas you can wet mop the entire floor wait couple minutes for it to soak up the water then scrape right up, do not spray with water on a wood subfloor! been installing flooring 25 + years i will tell you this. most manufacturers will not stand behind warranty, unless you follow there instructions to the letter when you install it ,most will say do not install over old vinyl flooring, in the case of wood subfloor i would install multiply if warranty states you must either remove old or use multiply
Awesome. You have saved me a lot of time! Thanks!
J.M. Freelong no prob glad i could help
Alton Penny Hi Alton, I am a first-timer trying to replace my linoleum floor with ceramic tile. just so I can be sure I understood you, are you saying to install multiply over the old vinyl floors, or to still remove the vinyl and use multiply instead of another type of underlay, say, cement board? Or are you saying to remove everything and replace the wood subfloor with multiply?
SaraMarie320 no cement board unless your installing tile ! only remove old vinyl on concrete floors, but on wood floors with vinyl on it ,go over whole wood floor vinyl area with multiply, alot of installers will try and float over old vinyl floors with ardex feather finsh ,but in order to keep warranty valid, you will need to ask for factory reccomendations are on your vinyl flooring that you purchase
Alton Penny what is multiply? I can’t seem to find any product by that name.
looks like it would be quicker if you had a helper and a bigger scraper
I wonder what power level (wattage?) is for your heat gun. Perhaps most standard heat guns are about the same. Also, I have 2 layers of linoleum (or vinyl) on cement sub-floor (slab). Hopefully, this might be easier than if it were on wood, otherwise it looks like I'll need a good 10 hours for a 300 sq ft floor to remove the crap.
Do you have a preference for your kitchen floor, like ceramic, porcelain, or wood?
Thanks for your helpful video!
I've discovered that if you heat it up a little bit more, the glue will be released by the heat also. Took it all off in one shot.
Lance Price Hi, thanks for the idea. Glad you were able to remove it without a lot of trouble.
do you know how long it took you to remove this??
You probably could, but you could get cheap-o one for $14.99 at Harbor Freight.
They still make asbestos linoleum, but is much less common after 90s. The glue is more likely to contain.
Holy crap man. That would take forever! For $7.00 you can get that up very quickly with a razor scraper. They sell them at Home Depot. Ask for a .4 in. Razor Scraper
Can you use a hair dryer if you don't have a heat gun?
Could I just put a new floor over the linoleum using a new thin 1/2 inch subfloor?
how about that dryer lint carpet
LMAO... Yeah that is some ugly shit.
Hello, quick question. I am removing mine from my bathroom and I have already removed everything. Unfortunately I am left with paper looking stuff all over the floor like in 4:29. Is it okay to install over it without having to remove all the left over residue?
It would take me hours to scrape everything off. Should I put some type of adhesive underneath, before I install new vinyl tiles?
I know this was 7 years ago but hopefully others will read. Absolutely do NOT leave the cardboard backing. I am removing one that was done 15 years ago that the person left the cardbord backing and half of it is all moldy. If you must leave the cardboard backing, encapsulate it will paint.
This method is about the only real way to remove the flooring for most of us WITHOUT hiring contractors or using equipment that most seniors cant use so they go back to the old way of doing things. I found my 70+ year old mom using a small hand axe and hammer, worked prettying good to if you don't mine a few nicks in the wooden sub floor
This was very helpful.... also--my flooring isnt brittle and comes up WAY easier than this one!
Honestly---if mine was as hard as this I think Id just tear up the luan and start fresh!
I'm currently doing this, the only downside is that to remove the luan, you need to unscrew a bunch, as well as remove some nails, but in order to see/find them, you gotta get through the linoleum -_-
can you use a hair dryer?
Yeah, it's prob better, since heat isn't as concentrated as a heat gun is. Also, blow dryer puts out more air flow.
Why not heat a larger area then hit it with a heavy duty floor scraper?
When your mum says, It wont take more then 30mins... I think ive been scamed T.T
Can I also use heat gun to remove rubber tile?
I'm about to tackle 3 layers of lino. Lord help me
We too years and years of over lay, mom's.
Seven layers here. Took the top five off a month ago in one evening and did the last two tonight. All that's left is to get the last paper and adhesive buts stripped from the hardwood below it...lol!
Will a simple hair dryer do the trick?
Very helpful,thanks a lot !! 👍😉
What if I use heat to remove it or using water consisting of some acid? Which way is better?
Just remove the underlayment, much quicker.
What do you do to manage the asbestos? Newer Vinyl from the late 80s 90s onwards is free, but how do you deal with the older stuff?
yikes - I guess PPE gear?
Be even faster if one person does the gun and another goes along scraping the lino off. Saves you stopping every 20seconds.
Can linoleum (not vinyl) be used outside?
Another good way is to cut the lino into strips about 60mm wide. Then run a steam mop over a small area for a couple of minutes. The lino should just peel away
Good idea, thanks!
Maybe a heated scraper would be the ideal tool.
I have some 35 year old linoleum still left in my house that has no paper backing, just straight excess glue and linleum. gonna try the heat gun/hair dryer now. the floor stripper couldn't even make it happen.
Sometimes you will have more than one layer of linoleum or vinyl...because renovators are lazy, cheap a**holes! It took me 3days to remove all that crap, even broke my scraper! I found it easier to use a floor stripper & heat gun...still tiring, though! Thank god for knee-pa!
Also...if your going to use a heat-gun, use a fan and good ventilation...you don't want to breath those fumes, I'm sure it ain't healthy!
Take the lino and k3 board togeather....hopefully it's no p.l glue under it....if your floor squeaks when u walk on it then that tells u it's not glued down with pl.
Can u wet it instead of usin heat gun?
+Estehla Castillo On some adhesives I think that works, but heat seemed to be most effective here.
No asbestos?
Linoleum is not vinyl
Thanks for this!
Good God this looks like its a good 2-3 days solid at that rate.No one actually still buys this stuff do they? Has it gone the way of Wallpaper hopefully?
@@darrinsiberia I realize that. Some still using adhesive. Question still holds...
save some time. take razor blade and cut floor in 6 inch strips and pull away in strips, works great
By any chance, did you test the floor for asbestos? My linoleum has a similar set up with that paper like backing. The linoleum is hard n brittle, while the paper is glued to the floor. I am going to test to see if it is asbestos. What other material could this paper backing be?
why are you worried about asbestos? Are you afraid of cancer? Asbestos isn't even dangerous in minimum quantities. And all cases reported to be fatal are from factories where they were exposed for decades every single day in huge amounts.
+Chris M What Chris said... I'm an electrician and have to cut through asbestos for wiring - all cases of asbestosis were like Chris said, people who worked with it in factories etc.
+Michael Jlailaty hey idiot , no amount is safe and I hope you get cancer for being so careless, but hey when you don't go to school this is where you work , I'll use you as an example for my kids not to follow
Ryan Smith You can get cancer by eating bananas due to its radioactivity.
You can get cancer by taking care of your lawn. You can get cancer when you're 50 ft away from a person smoking. You can get cancer due to pollution. It's not a big deal. What IS a big deal is exposure of workers and negligence due to it by big corporations who make a profit to withhold information regarding huge projects.
Thanks for the video
For one thing, that's not a scraper he was using...And I don't think any homeowners would wait a whole week for him to take that vinyl floor off
Ahhh that's probly it, I always thought that they were basically the same stuff though (or atleast really similar)?
Can I use a blow dryer? Don't make fun of me, I'm a young woman
Thank you very helpful
I would rather just pull up the subfloor and put new OSB boards down honestly... At $12 per 4×8 its worth the time savings.
Exactly! That’s what I decided to, plywood is cheap. Fuck that noise, peeling this crap on my hands and knees for hours.
So technically I could use wax paper and an iron?
Can I rent a heat gun?
Shouldn't you tell folk to have the lino tested for asbestos?
if you add water on the paper is more easy to remove the paper try
Worked.
Looks easy
I would recommend that you watch a video on youtube to learn how to remove old flooring before you try to make your own video on how to remove flooring because your method of removing flooring could use some tweaking...
Sounds like a rocket engine when you rip it.
Mine is concrete underneath
Wow, the electric bill from doing this could pay for a new floor....
Robert Burkley don't matter if you can afford a new floor if you can't remove the old one dum dum!
What a nightmare! I have it in three rooms under the carpet. I guess I will have to recarpet over it.
try that with marmolium it doesn't work well. tear outs suck
thank you so much!
so at that speed you should be done in 2 years! wow....got to be an easier way. Like just ripping up the whole sub floor layer and buying/installing new sub floor....wouldn't that be far easier??
Remember some lino's contain asbestos !!
how can you tell
@@wannellalawson4001 Get a test kit from your local hardware or big box store