Vinyl and Linoleum Flooring - New flooring in home
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : New flooring in home
Deserai
02-04-09, 08:54 PM
My husband and I just (yesterday, actually) got the keys to our new home. We were aware that we'd have to replace all the flooring in the house when we got it before we could deem it "livable" for our small son, but its proving to be a bit more work than we thought.
The kitchen and entry hall have two different linoleum floors. We're not actually sure if its linoleum or vinyl, but since its glued the entire way down, we think linoleum. My husband is actually at the house with a scraper right now, working on the home, but the kitchen has two layers down (the previous owners apparently redecorated), and its a lot of work for him to do. Since he actually refuses to let me do any work on it, saying its too much work for a pregnant woman to do, I've been googling how to remove linoleum flooring to try to help him.
I read about a guy who used a steamer, like one used to remove wallpaper, on the linoleum, and how it just peeled up easy as pie afterwards and was wondering if that would work on the 12''x12'' tiles that you just remove the backing for and stick in place. The guy who had posted it had used it to remove linoleum held in place by a tar-like substance.
My kitchen, which we're also re-flooring, is covered in tile. If we go over that pretty well with a sledge hammer, do you think it would break it off and leave us with a re-floorable floor? The house is just on a concrete slab, so it goes tile-concrete so far as I know. I'm worried about hurting my new house, or being unable to remove that tile.
My last question is in regards to the living room; We just tore up the carpet in it last night, and were assaulted by a very musty fragrance. Under the carpet padding, it looks like the living room used to be tile as well--it has a square pattern to it. It had some brown dust, and the square pattern was black, but upon taking a rag to it, none of the black came up. My mom is still worried that its black mold, though. What are the chances of that?
Thank you for your input.
A bit more info: The house was built in 1957, on a concrete slab, and for the kitchen, dining room, living room, and entry hall, we're putting in some Allure flooring that we purchased already. The rest of the house (the bedrooms and hallway) are getting the Home Depot treatment--they're going to come in and install carpeting. It doesn't look like there is any water damage inside the home at all, if that helps, and the garage doesn't have any dampness problems.
The kitchen and entry hall have two different linoleum floors. We're not actually sure if its linoleum or vinyl, but since its glued the entire way down, we think linoleum. My husband is actually at the house with a scraper right now, working on the home, but the kitchen has two layers down (the previous owners apparently redecorated), and its a lot of work for him to do. Since he actually refuses to let me do any work on it, saying its too much work for a pregnant woman to do, I've been googling how to remove linoleum flooring to try to help him.
I read about a guy who used a steamer, like one used to remove wallpaper, on the linoleum, and how it just peeled up easy as pie afterwards and was wondering if that would work on the 12''x12'' tiles that you just remove the backing for and stick in place. The guy who had posted it had used it to remove linoleum held in place by a tar-like substance.
My kitchen, which we're also re-flooring, is covered in tile. If we go over that pretty well with a sledge hammer, do you think it would break it off and leave us with a re-floorable floor? The house is just on a concrete slab, so it goes tile-concrete so far as I know. I'm worried about hurting my new house, or being unable to remove that tile.
My last question is in regards to the living room; We just tore up the carpet in it last night, and were assaulted by a very musty fragrance. Under the carpet padding, it looks like the living room used to be tile as well--it has a square pattern to it. It had some brown dust, and the square pattern was black, but upon taking a rag to it, none of the black came up. My mom is still worried that its black mold, though. What are the chances of that?
Thank you for your input.
A bit more info: The house was built in 1957, on a concrete slab, and for the kitchen, dining room, living room, and entry hall, we're putting in some Allure flooring that we purchased already. The rest of the house (the bedrooms and hallway) are getting the Home Depot treatment--they're going to come in and install carpeting. It doesn't look like there is any water damage inside the home at all, if that helps, and the garage doesn't have any dampness problems.
delospalotes
02-07-09, 10:32 AM
A- is he using an electric/air driven scraper? you can rent at Home Depot or most tool rentals, will make his job a lot easier on the vynil/linoleum and the tile itself maybe more work in the later.
B-I would not use a sledge hammer, scraper will be better just get the right size for the job.
C-the black color in the floor from old tile is the tar they used to use back on the fiftys, just make sure it is nice and clean, again use the scraper, and then used a modified thin-set, I like Mapei Ultrafelx 2, for tile installation for situations like this.
D-hopefully the musty smell is the result of a bad job cleaning the carpets were a lot of water was left behind, has nothing to do with black tar adhesive from the 50's
E-I do agree with your husband just do light duty work and away from chemicals and congrats on the coming babyBeer 4U2
B-I would not use a sledge hammer, scraper will be better just get the right size for the job.
C-the black color in the floor from old tile is the tar they used to use back on the fiftys, just make sure it is nice and clean, again use the scraper, and then used a modified thin-set, I like Mapei Ultrafelx 2, for tile installation for situations like this.
D-hopefully the musty smell is the result of a bad job cleaning the carpets were a lot of water was left behind, has nothing to do with black tar adhesive from the 50's
E-I do agree with your husband just do light duty work and away from chemicals and congrats on the coming babyBeer 4U2