How to Remove Vinyl Flooring [9 STEPS]

Let’s be clear: removing vinyl flooring is not a pleasant experience.

It is difficult enough to remove the vinyl material from the subfloor without having to deal with the adhesive that had been used to hold the vinyl to the subfloor.

The only silver lining in this situation is that, while the labor may be arduous and time-consuming, anyone can learn how to remove vinyl flooring by following these instructions.

There are no specialized tools or advanced expertise necessary.

It’s truly just a matter of putting forth the effort.

Follow the procedures outlined below to complete the task with the least amount of frustration.

See Also:

How Long Does it Take To Install Laminate Flooring

How to Install Laminate Flooring

How to Remove Vinyl Flooring

Using a heated gun can make your life a lot easier.

Small sections of your vinyl floor tiles should be heated before being softly cut on top of them, if necessary.

Then, using a large putty knife or a chisel and hammer, scrape the tiles away from the wall.

Make an effort to scrape up the adhesive as well, as the heat will weaken the entire layer.

Learn How To Remove Vinyl Flooring the Right Way

Fresh flooring may completely change a space, but it is not inexpensive.

The removal of worn-out vinyl or linoleum by the homeowner can save you money on your next remodel and allow you to save even more money.

However, if you’re up for the physical labor, pulling out old floors should be a project you can complete in a weekend, as long as you have the patience to wait till it’s done right.

The procedure for removing both vinyl and linoleum is nearly identical, so follow the steps outlined here to learn how to remove vinyl or linoleum the DIY method.

Planning Ahead of Time for the Removal of Vinyl or Linoleum flooring

It is necessary for you to complete a few preliminary steps before proceeding to the major event of the day.

Bring All of Your Tools Together

You probably already have most of these items on hand, but if you don’t, they can be purchased or rented for a reasonable price at your local home improvement store.

Linoleum or vinyl floor removal tools are available.

Tools: Personal Protective Equipment:

• Chisel
• Pliers
• Pry bar with a flat surface
• Knife for a variety of tasks
• Putty Knife is a type of knife used for putting putty on surfaces.
• Heat Gun (also known as a hot gun)
• Floor Scraper (optional)
• *If it is desired
• Gloves for the job
• Pants with a lot of leg
• Shoes with a lot of durabilities
• Knee protectors are recommended.
• Mask for the face

For this project, you may want to think about getting a 10-yard dumpster from a local company.

Especially if you’re working in a large room, linoleum sheets are too heavy to bag up and throw away with your ordinary trash.

If you’re remodeling other areas of your kitchen at the same time, you’ll need a handy way to dispose of large materials such as cabinets and countertops that your trash provider won’t pick up at the curb when you’re through.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Remove the Quarter-Round Trim

When installing vinyl flooring, you must first remove any quarter-round trim that has been put in front of the baseboards as a means of concealing the space between the baseboards and the flooring.

Using the flat end of the pry bar, gently pry the quarter-round off the wall.

Step 2: Remove the Baseboard Trim from the Baseboard

Occasionally, vinyl flooring can be put just up to the edge of the baseboards, just below the quarter-round molding, depending on the situation.

Although it is possible to put baseboards directly over the flooring, it is more customary to install them over the top of the flooring.

The previous flooring will have to be removed fully if this is the situation in your home. If this is the case, you will have to remove the baseboards as well.

To begin, position a wood block against the wall a few inches above the baseboard and secure it with screws.

Placing the flat end of the pry bar on top of the joint where the trim and the wall meet is a good idea.

A quick slap on the bar with a gloved hand should be sufficient to force it under the trimming.

If this is not the case, knock the pry bar against the wall with a rubber mallet or hammer.

Gently remove the trim away from the wall in stages, working your way down the wall.

Always take your time and go slowly when removing the trim—prying back too rapidly may cause the trim to snap.

However, even if you do not intend to reuse the trim, it is easier to remove it in long lengths rather than little, broken bits since it is less fragile.

During the process of removing trim, baseboards are frequently damaged.

Aside from the possibility of removing high-quality, pricey baseboards, you might want to weigh the expense of new baseboards against the time and effort involved in rescuing and fixing the original baseboards.

Tip

If you intend to reuse trim, design a labeling system for the rear of the trim pieces to make installation easier in the later stages.

Starting with the first piece, you could wish to write “1” on the back with an “up” arrow, and then continue in this manner in an organized, clockwise direction around the room until you’ve finished.

Step 3: Experiment with removing the middle section of the flooring

It is common to discover vinyl flooring that has been put all around the perimeter, which makes the removal process much easier and faster.

As a result, just a 6-inch perimeter of the vinyl flooring has been glued or stapled down; the middle of the vinyl flooring is free to move around.

Examine your room’s flooring by cutting through it at 8-inch intervals along the perimeter of the room’s perimeter to see whether this is the case.

Keep your cut straight to the walls, and check to see if the center of the flooring can be readily pulled up with one hand.

Step 4: Cut the flooring into strips and set them aside.

Keep your utility knife close by when removing vinyl flooring since it will come in handy at some point.

As you remove portions of flooring, you can slice them into long, narrow strips that are no wider than 18 inches in width, so that they can be reused.

Only cut the length when it becomes unmanageable or in the way of your activities.

Maintaining a limited width for the strips will be beneficial later on when it comes time to remove the old flooring.

The temptation to begin pulling back or rolling up huge sheets of vinyl flooring at a time might be overwhelming.

This is not suggested, however, because the sheet vinyl can grow heavy and is difficult to handle in this manner.

Keep the vinyl in huge sheets only if you want to give it away or repurpose it in another room of the house.

Step 5: Measure and cut the flooring into strips

Keep your utility knife close by when removing vinyl flooring since it will come in handy at some point.

As you remove portions of flooring, you can slice them into long, narrow strips that are no wider than 18 inches in width, so that they can be reused.

Only cut the length when it becomes unmanageable or in the way of your activities.

Maintaining a limited width for the strips will be beneficial later on when it comes time to remove the old flooring.

The temptation to begin pulling back or rolling up huge sheets of vinyl flooring at a time might be overwhelming.

This is not suggested, however, because the sheet vinyl can grow heavy and difficult to handle in this manner.

Keep the vinyl in huge sheets only if you want to give it away or repurpose it in another room of the house.

Step 6: Make use of a 5-in-1 multipurpose tool

You should move to a sharper instrument when the prybar is no longer effective at scraping up the flooring.

Force the end of a 5-in-1 tool that has been freshly sharpened between the vinyl and the subfloor.

Make jabbing, forceful strokes with your brush. If the glue on your floor is old, you’ll find that the tool has a relatively easy time tearing it apart with the tool.

While you chisel, use your other hand to peel back the vinyl as much as possible.

You may be delaminating the vinyl sheet, which means you are separating the vinyl layer from its backing layer if the vinyl sheet appears to be coming away from the floor too readily from the floor.

As you chisel and pull the flooring, make sure that you are removing the entire thickness of the flooring.

Step 7: Gently peel away with your hands

You should try to pull back on the flooring whenever you can get a hold of it, either straight upwards or back toward you.

You’ll have more pulling power as a result of this.

Step 8: Apply heat with a heat gun

When it comes to releasing tough adhesive that is difficult to remove, a heat gun can be really effective.

Turn the heat gun to the lowest setting and wave it around the junction between the flooring and the underlayment after it has reached a proper temperature.

As an alternative, you may try heating up the top side of the flooring in a tiny portion and then pulling that section back.

When it comes to removing glued-down vinyl tiles, a heat gun is a good tool to have on hand.

Step 9: Remove the Old Flooring

If you score the surface of long strips of sheet vinyl with a utility knife, you can fold them up accordion-style into squares.

In most cases, folding back the first score will be straightforward, but the second score, and any alternate scores, are far more complex. You’ll have to exert a little force on them in order to get them to fold.

Vinyl flooring cannot be recycled in most localities, so it must be disposed of in the same manner as other types of waste in most places.

Building materials, on the other hand, are not accepted in domestic trash in some areas; check with your local government to find out what the proper disposal procedures are in your area.

This could entail transporting the flooring to a designated garbage disposal facility.

Precautions Should Be Taken

Until the mid-1980s, asbestos was frequently used as a component in the manufacture of vinyl flooring.

In the case when you are aware that the installation you are dealing with has been in place for a lengthy period of time—or if you are unsure of how long the vinyl floor has been in place—it is just basic sense to have the material tested before proceeding.

I believe in hiring professionals when the situation calls for it, and in the case of asbestos-laced vinyl flooring, it is absolutely acceptable to pay experts who are knowledgeable in their field.

When learning how to remove vinyl flooring, the use of a heat gun can be really beneficial, but it can also be extremely dangerous.

Holding the heat gun too close to flammable items and allowing it to ignite can cause a fire to start.

Always keep your heat gun away from your work materials, and it’s a good idea to wear gloves while working with heat!

Bonus: Removal of Vinyl Floor Sheets

When it comes to home and commercial projects, sheet vinyl flooring is more typically encountered as a cut-to-measure alternative.

The majority of the time, sheet vinyl is laid around the perimeter of the room, which means that adhesive is only utilized on the floor’s margins.

Vinyl sheets are reasonably straightforward to remove after they have been installed around the perimeter.

1) In the center of the room, with a utility knife, cut a hole about a foot wide into the vinyl flooring.

Cut the vinyl into smaller strips for the second step. The vinyl strips are much easier to remove than the entire sheet of vinyl.

3). Use a floor scraper, pry bar, or other similar equipment to remove tough vinyl portions and glue from the flooring surface.

Remove Vinyl Flooring from a Plywood Subfloor

The most effective method is to cut into both the vinyl and the subfloor with a saw blade at the same time, as seen below.

You can put your faith in us.

No matter how carefully you work to remove the vinyl from the plywood, you will almost certainly have to replace it.

It is adhered to by glue, and chunks of wood are raised together with the flooring.

It is necessary to remove the vinyl flooring first (as described in the previous section) and then remove the fasteners before removing the plywood underlayment and subfloor.

Cut the floor into 2- to 3-foot parts using a wood saw so that it can be removed and discarded easily.

Our Final Thoughts

As a result of our demonstration of how to remove vinyl flooring, you can determine whether or not this is a project you wish to undertake on your own time.

Depending on which option you choose, it can be time-consuming.

If you do it correctly, you’ll have a clean working surface for your new flooring at the end of the project.

Frequently Ask Questions