Removing Old Linoleum Floor

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I need some tips and advice on removing linoleum flooring in an old bathroom. I tried to pull it up and it's glued really well and came up in small pieces. Any tips?
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Comments(10)

  • jam20025th May, 2004

    Try a heat gun, warm it up, and it should come up easier. If it's too much trouble, just put some 1/4" plywood down on top of it.

  • monkfish25th May, 2004

    Home Depot carries a linoleum floor scraper called a "Floor Buddy" (I think that's the name). I looks like a short toothed shovel.

    Buy one of those babies and roll up your sleeves.

    Good luck.
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  • mattfish1125th May, 2004

    I had the same problem in a kitchen floor I was re-doing... And when we were pulling it up - it was just coming up in tiny pieces... I would do what JAM200 said and lay down a thin layer of plywood and lay tile or new linoleum over that. It give you a nice flat surface to work with... You can just screw the plywood into the existing floor. It worked great!

    Good Luck!

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  • jamesprimmer2nd June, 2004

    i recently purchased a duplex and had to do the same thing in the kitchen.. use a small trowel and slide it under the linoleum and then slide a shovel under the trowel... all these suggestions are great but the bottom line is... it is a very hard job

  • Todd_RE_Investor2nd June, 2004

    I too had this problem. I pulled up as much as I could, and bought some removing compound from Home Depot. Looks like white sryup. You must have exposed the paper under the linoleum for the compound to penetrate. Brush on the stuff (See the directions on the can) and scrap the stuff up. You need to wash the floor afterwards to remove and nutralize the residual compound. It better than scraping the whole thing....

  • lauralee3rd June, 2004

    Thanks for all the help. I rented a heat gun and used it along with a scraper and lots of elbow grease. It all came up and looks great.

  • InActive_Account3rd June, 2004

    Heat or sanding applied to possible asbestos containing lino - not good.

  • jam2003rd June, 2004

    Even if it did contain asbestos, heat won't hurt anything, I don't think. At least, in the asbestos abatement class I went to, they didn't say anything about that, anyway. And, the scraping she was talking about was breaking the glue loose, not actually sanding the linoleum.

  • tclifford103rd June, 2004

    Good Day to You: I don't believe heat is an issue for this application. If there is asbestos in the linoleum flooring, as long as the linoleum flooring does not catch fire, there shouldn't be a problem. After all, heat ducts are wrapped in the stuff.

    Good Luck and make $$$

    Tom

  • InActive_Account3rd June, 2004

    True, I may be over cautious about heating lino.[ Edited by The-Rehabinator on Date 06/03/2004 ]

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