Easiest Way To Remove Old Linoleum Flooring: Step By Step Instructions Of Removing Old Linoleum Flooring

Step By Step Instructions Of Removing Old Linoleum Flooring

Linoleum refers to a resilient floor covering that is made of limestone, cork, and linseed oil. The floor covering can be installed over several types of floorings such as hardwood and wooden floorings. The user can install the flooring with an adhesive or by using a type of adhesive paper that grows stronger with use making its removal a challenging task. Getting rid of the old linoleum or vinyl is usually quite difficult, due to the reason that wood, which is a common subfloor, is porous, which in turn absorbs the adhesives. One of the main reasons why you need to remove the linoleum glue from the wood, or any subfloor, is due to the fact that some older adhesives had oils in them that chemically react with new vinyl in order to cause yellow discoloration. The majority of the warranties on new vinyl do not cover this type of failure. In order to remove linoleum from wooden flooring, go through the below-mentioned step by step instructions carefully:

Step 1: Cut The Linoleum

The first step will be to cut the linoleum into small sections with the help of a utility knife. The users need to make sure that they make the cut in straight lines and doesn't make deep cuts, due to the reason that deep cuts can make gouges into the wood.

Step 2: Remove Top Layer Of Linoleum

After cutting the linoleum, you will need to insert the edge of the floor scraper inside the cut marks. The user needs to push the scraper inside the cuts with short thrusts in order to get the top layer of the linoleum up. The step will bring up some adhesive as well but mostly the top layer of linoleum will come up. The user needs to work in sections in order to remove the entire top coating of linoleum from the wooden flooring.

Step 3: Heat The Remaining Adhesive

After that, it is time to remove the remaining adhesive from the wooden flooring by heating it up with a hairdryer or heat gun. The user needs to hold the heat gun at least 3 inches away from the adhesive rather than holding it with the adhesive.

Step 4: Scrape The Adhesive Away

The last step will be to scrape away the softened adhesive by placing a floor scraper onto it at a 45-degree angle. The user needs to scrape the adhesive away with short thrusts making sure not to dig the scraper into the wood flooring. It is extremely important to perform this step in small sections and if the scraper stops moving, the user can stop in order to reheat the adhesive. In order to remove the entire old adhesive, the user may need to make several passes of scrappers over each section of the wooden flooring.