How To Remove Sheet Vinyl From Wood Subfloor

If you remove vinyl flooring but the glue remains lodged on the subfloor try this.

How to remove sheet vinyl from wood subfloor.

If the adhesive is old you will discover that the tool chips away the adhesive fairly easily. Sand and refinish wood floor. If you are removing vinyl flooring from a wood subfloor you don t want to get it too wet as it can cause issues with the wood. The uneven texture caused by the glue remnants makes laying new tile nearly impossible.

Once the adhesive is loose use a floor scraper to remove as much of it as you can. In order for the new tiles to stay adhered the subfloor surface must be completely flat. The goal is to have a wooden subfloor. As you chisel use your other hand to keep peeling back the sheet vinyl.

One reason the linoleum glue must be removed from the wood or any subfloor is because some older adhesives had oils in them that chemically react with new vinyl to cause a yellow discoloration. Start by scraping the glue with a pry bar or scraper. Removing old linoleum or vinyl is generally quite difficult because wood a common subfloor is porous thus absorbing the adhesives. Wood subfloor measure and cut 1 4 inch or thicker plywood with a circular saw to fit the entire floor of the room where you are installing vinyl flooring.

Once the floor is completely dry rent a floor sander and edger to sand the floor smooth and remove any traces of adhesive. If however the vinyl flooring was laid over concrete you can soak a 2x2 foot area of the flooring with warm water for about 5 minutes before scraping it up which helps ease the process tremendously. If that doesn t get the glue off you will need to use a commercial adhesive stripper to soften and remove the glue. After the adhesive has been removed allow ample time for the floor to dry.

With a freshly sharpened five in one tool force the sharp end between the sheet vinyl and subfloor in jabbing strokes. Removing vinyl from concrete is similar to removing it from subfloor.