Vinyl and Linoleum Flooring - Installing over damaged vinyl

I had water damage in my kitchen. Some of it leaked under the vinyl floor and the restoration company had to remove about a 2' x 6' section in order to dry out the sub floor.

I want to install a new single-sheet vinyl floor in the kitchen. Do I need to remove the rest of the old vinyl flooring which is otherwise in perfectly good condition or can I repair the damage area before laying the new floor?

If I can keep the old vinyl how would I repair the area? Could I use some sort of leveling compound? Would I need to put 1/4" plywood over the top of that?

Thanks for your help!

Welcome to the forums! Short answer....remove it. Any variation in the underlying linoleum or tile will telegraph to your new covering and will really not look good. Repairs are possible, but total removal is the best option.

Splicing in a 2' x 6' ft piece would end up looking terrible. It is doable professionals do it in regards to borders and such, but it by no means a simple process. If you can afford to put new vinyl down the best method would be to prep the 2' x 6' area and put down scrap vinyl just to maintain the height. After that it's as if it were a fresh install. You'd have to put down luan, staple it all down, patch the seams, sand the patch down, clean, put down the vinyl and cut it down to somewhat fit while ensuring it's as best as possible with all walls. Then begin peeling up parts, troweling on the glue putting it down and rolling it.

This process would not be cheap of course. Depending on the type of vinyl and what your doing a cheaper more appealing method might be to cut out more than the 2' x 6'. From there install luan in the new area and put a new floor down and then a transition from the old vinyl to the new vinyl. Depending on where it is in the room, the room in general and such, this could provide a very interesting look, or look completely insane. You'd basically have a landing in that area of the floor 3/8s or so taller than the existing floor.

It's unfortunate, vinyl is a different animal than alot of other flooring. Carpet, hardwood, even laminate it's possible to splice in for some missing area. With vinyl though you would have to have 4 perfect edges, and no matter how perfect you cut them, glue them and seal them it will eventually peel on ther perimeter and look terrible.

Another alternate method although I wouldn't advise it, would be to patch the 2' x 6' area, but this would be difficult to ensure it's perfectly flat, and luan is necessary as it provides a smooth surface for the glue to sit on so that no bumps appear on the top side of the vinyl. Any imperfections on the underlayment of the vinyl will shine through more than one might imagine.

So the restoration company simply cut out a chunk of vinyl, and I'm assuming remedied the cause of the leak. Then left it with a piece missing? Doesn't sound like too impressive of a service you paid for. Did home owners insurance cover it?