Unsticking Your Floors: Tips and
Tricks for Removing Vinyl Flooring
When vinyl flooring is first installed, it appears fantastic, but over
time it starts to deteriorate and can't be easily or effectively
repaired. Fortunately, you can substitute vinyl flooring with another
type of flooring or remove the vinyl flooring yourself. In many
situations, it is simplest to simply install the new floor on top of the
existing vinyl flooring. It is possible to install laminate, some types of
wood flooring, carpet, and some other types of vinyl on vinyl flooring
as long as it is extremely durable.

If layering and height considerations for the new floor are important,
you might opt to remove your vinyl flooring. Removing old glued-
down vinyl flooring has its difficulties. If you try to remove vinyl
flooring glue, which is often difficult to do and can be assisted by a
heat gun or chemicals, the job might take longer.
How To Remove Vinyl Flooring
1)Remove The Quarter-Round Trim
Before you begin installing the vinyl flooring, remove any quarter-
round moulding that has been put in place in front of the baseboards
to fill the space between the baseboards and the flooring. Utilizing
the smooth end of the putty knife, carefully try to pull off the
quarter-round.
2)Remove The Baseboard Trim
The vinyl flooring may occasionally be installed just below the
quarter-round moulding, on the baseboard border. The installation
of baseboards over the top of the carpeting is more typical, though.
If that applies to your home, removing the old flooring will require
the full removal of the baseboards.
Start by leaning a piece of wood up against the wall a few inches
above the baseboard. Place the smooth end of the pry bar over the
joint between the trim and the wall. The bar should be pushed under
the trim with just a quick tap of a covered hand. If not, tap a hammer
or plastic mallet against the pry bar.
Along the wall, gently pull the trim away in segments. Take your time
and move slowly, if you pry back too fast, the trim might break. Even
if you won't be reusing the trim, it will still be simpler to remove it in
long lengths as opposed to numerous small bits.

Baseboards frequently sustain harm when the trim is removed. You
might want to compare the cost of new baseboards to the labor
involved in saving and repairing the old baseboards unless you are
removing high-quality, costly baseboards.
3)Try Removing The Centre Section Of The Flooring
Vinyl flooring is frequently completely perimeter-installed, which
facilitates disassembly and speeds up the process. In other words,
the vinyl flooring's centre is loose and has only been glued or stapled
down along its 6-inch perimeter.
Cut through the flooring about 8 inches from the walls around the
room's circumference to see if this is the case. Check to see if the
flooring's centre pulls up readily while maintaining a cut parallel to
the walls.
It may be more difficult to remove vinyl carpeting from concrete
than from wood. You'll need to scrape it off or use chemicals
because the floor is probably cemented to the concrete.
4)Cut The Flooring Into Strips
A utility knife should always be kept close by when cleaning vinyl
flooring. To keep a maximum width of 18 inches while removing
flooring, you can cut the pieces into long, narrow strips. Only shorten
the length if it becomes awkward or in the way. To get the most
value when getting rid of the old carpeting, keep the strips short.
It may be tempting to begin rolling up or reversing big vinyl flooring
sheets one at a time. This is not advised, though, as the sheet vinyl
can get bulky and challenging to handle. Unless you intend to give
the vinyl to a friend or reuse it in another room of the house, there is
no need to keep it in big sheets.
5)Remove Glued-Down Flooring With A Pry Bar

The finest method for removing glued-down vinyl flooring, whether
it is the complete floor or just the perimeter, is tenacious hard
scraping. To start, cut under the vinyl to separate it from the
underlayment using as much of a flat pry bar's point as you can. Only
if the vinyl is loosely glued down will the blunt pry tool function.
6)Use A 5-In-1-Tool
Change to a sharper instrument once the prybar can no longer be
used to scrape up the flooring. Force the tip of a 5-in-1 tool that has
recently been sharpened between the vinyl and flooring. Use
incisive, jabbing motions. If your floor's adhesive is old, you'll see
that the tool can readily chip away at it.
With your other hand, keep peeling back the vinyl as you cut.
Delaminating the vinyl sheet, or separating the vinyl layer from its
backing layer, is probably what you are doing if the vinyl seems to
pull away from the floor too readily. As you chisel and drag, make
sure that the entire thickness of the flooring is removed.
7) Peel Away By Hand
If you can, attempt to pull a piece of flooring back towards you
or straight up whenever you can get a hold of it. Your pulling
strength is increased as a result.
8)Use A Heat Gun
For softening tough adhesive that is challenging to scrape, a heat
pistol can be very helpful. Turn the heat gun to medium, let it warm
up enough, then move it around the intersection of the flooring and
the underlayment. As an alternative, you might attempt heating the
flooring's top side in a small section and then pulling that section

back. When removing glued-down vinyl panels, a heat gun also
works well.
9)Dispose Of The Old Flooring
If you score the surface with a utility knife, long pieces of sheet vinyl
can be folded up into squares accordion-style. Although it will be
simple to fold back the first score, it will be more challenging to fold
back the second and all alternating values. To make them pleat
neatly, you'll need to apply some pressure.