I have decided to put 5/16 engineered wood flooring in our kitchen. I am using this thickness to more closely match up with existing “real” hard wood in the dining room. My question is about whether I should remove the vinyl flooring (sheet) in the kitchen? House was built in ’95 and the floor seems to be well installed and stable. I would like to gain the 1/8 in by removing the vinyl but I am unsure about how labor intensive removal will be and what exactly I would be in for once the vinyl is gone (glue removal). I would like opinions on whether to glue or nail/staple the new wood floor. I thank everyone in advance.
Dan in Connecticut
Replies
Sheet vinyl is usually glued on 1/4" underlay nailed to the subfloor. Just to remove the vinyl is not practical because of all that left over glue you have to deal with. It's a lot easier to remove the underlay together with the vinyl then install new underlay to match the height. Still it's a lot of work for 1/8".
Glue or nail? Follow flooring manufacturer's recommendation. Hope this helps.
The sheet vinyl in my kitchen was on top of 5/8" particle board. It was fairly easy to pull it out by finding a seam, cutting the vinyl, and pulling it out in 4x8 sections.
I would not want to put engineered on top of existing vinyl. If it was hard linoleum, that might be different.