Removing/replacing vinyl flooring.

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We're putting in a quick fix floor in our bathroom simply because the old floor was really ugly and I had a remnant of vinyl flooring that would cover the area.

Mr. B said "don't bother" pulling up the old flooring since this is just a temporary (maybe a few years) cosmetic fix bu after looking at how much texture there was to the floor we agreed the old stuff needed to come up.

So I'm pulling the floor up today.

The vinyl, textured layer is coming up nice but the glue layer is pretty stuck. It is covered with a papery type substance (the old foor backing?) but it's pretty smooth.

Will it be possible to put the new flooring over this papery substance or will the whole glue layer need to come off?

Remember -- this is just a quick fix so some imperfections are dandy.

Thanks!

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for a decent floor you would consider laying masonite sheeting. then new vinyl. not so sure for a temporary fix.

cost out the masonite and cutting/fitting.

Try paint stripper (The paint on gell type) to remove the worst of glue layer.

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Thank you dadpad!

With a kid and pets in the house I don't think I want to bring in paint stripper. If I could take the floor outside that would be different. What about a heat gun?

If I do have to put down masonite I think I'd be able to go over the papery stuff but masonite would change the floor height, wouldn't it? That might muck up the tiles.

I'm really just looking for the easiest, cheapest way to do this but I'm not sure if the mastic (is that the right word?) would skim right over this papery stuff or not.

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Oy boomer, don't touch that!!!

You have an old house and you could have asbestos underneath the
vinyl floor there. Please stop and have someone examine the old
vinyl floor first.

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Quote:

What about a heat gun?

probably not. It seems to me it would just make the glue soft and smeary but you could give it a try in a corner.

masonite would change the floor height but I'm not sure what you mean about mucking up the floor tiles. the sheeting is to give you a large even surface to lay your vinyl on. It is usual to remove the skirting boards fit the masonite (removing the skirting means you dont hve to be exact with the fitting) lay the vinyl then replace the skirting.

Newspapers were used at one time to smooth out the lumps, bumps and flooring joints. Put a 3 layers of news sheet down and see how it feels.

Asbestos cemnt sheeting is a possibility as CJ said. It was used here to lay vinyl on in I think the 50's or 60's.

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Quote:

Asbestos commonly found its way into homes and workplaces during construction, when asbestos-containing vinyl floor tiles were used to conceal raw cement floors. Vinyl floor tiles containing asbestos were in vogue with developers, construction teams and contractors for many years. In fact, until the 1970s asbestos vinyl floor tiles were the number one choice of developers and contractors for the construction of new homes because their price per unit was low, they were readily available, and conducted heat poorly, making them ideal insulators. As a result of the popularity of asbestos material, homes built before the 1970s are likely to contain these vinyl floor tiles, many of which contain dangerous asbestos fibers.

http://www.asbestos.com/products/construction/vinyl-floor-tiles.php

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Judging by the style and condition of the floor I think it was probably installed in the mid-90s so asbestos shouldn't be a problem.

This floor is directly on top of the old hardwoods.

Excellent point though, CJane. After your post I did some reading and I don't think I"ll be trying to take the old tile out since asbestos was often used in mastic.

What I meant about mucking up the tiles is that there are decorative edging tiles and I don't want to remove and raise them if the floor level was changed.

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Oh good! I am glad you read that beforehand. I was concerned that
you're going to town here without precautions, so I am relieved!!

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Home Depot or Lowes will carry a solvent that is designed to break up the mastic (glue) in your exact situation. You pull off the top layer and apply it to the paper backing. The solvent will soak through and break down the glue and then you can just pull the stuff up and do a final scraping for any spots that were missed.

You'll find it in the flooring section in the same isle as the flooring adhesives.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=122328-41173-FP0ARMV036&lpage=none

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Cool! Thanks fishin'.

I'm really hoping that we might be able to fudge it over the surface that is there. It's a lot smoother than the textured vinyl. Still, it's good to know there is something that will help if I have to deglue the floor.

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boomerang wrote:

Judging by the style and condition of the floor I think it was probably installed in the mid-90s so asbestos shouldn't be a problem.

This floor is directly on top of the old hardwoods.

Excellent point though, CJane. After your post I did some reading and I don't think I"ll be trying to take the old tile out since asbestos was often used in mastic.

What I meant about mucking up the tiles is that there are decorative edging tiles and I don't want to remove and raise them if the floor level was changed.

Boomer, Asbestos products are still available for sale in the US. The age of the floor is no guarantee that the mastic or the vinyl itself doesn't contain asbestos. When we redid our kitchen floor, we just put 1/4" plywood on top of the old vinyl floor. It raises the floor a bit, but it's better than contaminating your house with asbestos.

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Well damn, Swimpy. Too late now!

<kidding>

I left the glue stuff and the underlayment stuff down for now so I'll hope for the best in putting new on top and not having taken years off my life.

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Good. The chances that asbestos in the old flooring was released when you removed it is small because the material isn't friable. I wouldn't suggest messing with the glue, though.

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Removing/replacing vinyl flooring.

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