How to Remove Old Linoleum From a Hard Wood Floor
Unless you happen to get very lucky and your old linoleum was improperly glued, you are probably in for a long and tedious job of removing old linoleum and its adhesive from a wood floor. While there are products on the market which can soften old linoleum adhesive much like paint strippers dissolve old paint, often these products can damage the wood beneath the adhesive. If the underlying wood is not something you care about, then a solvent such as Krud Kutter might do the job. Another method involves heating the adhesive until it softens and then scraping it off. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Carpet knife
- Thin bladed paint scraper
- Old bucket
- Hair dryer
- Heat gun (rent or buy)
- Mineral spirits
- Shop vac
- Tack cloths
- Orbital floor sander (rented)
Instructions
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Cut a 1-foot by 1-foot square into the linoleum with your carpet knife, being careful not to cut down so deeply that you damage the underlying wood. Use your knife to pry up a corner of the linoleum and pull off as much as you can by hand. Most of the glue will probably remain stuck to the wooden floor. You should do this in an inconspicuous place to begin with if possible. Continue removing the top layer of linoleum by cutting down into the linoleum with your carpet knife, then prying up a corner and simply pulling the old linoleum off.
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Use your hair dryer to heat a corner of the glue that you just exposed. Hold the hair dryer in one place for several seconds until you see the glue begin to soften.
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Carefully scrape the glue off the wooden flooring with your thin bladed paint scraper, scraping with the grain of the wood and being careful not to gouge down into the wood. Put any glue that you scrape up into your old bucket. Depending on the age of the glue and its composition, the heat from the hairdryer may not be sufficient to soften the glue. If not, try the heat gun.
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Use a heat gun to soften the glue. A heat gun puts out a lot more heat than a hairdryer and must be used with considerably more caution. Keep the gun moving and be careful that you do not heat an area so much that you burn the wood under the glue. Work in small sections. Once the heat gun softens the glue, use your paint scraper to scrape it off the wood, working with the grain. Put the softened glue that you have scraped up into your old bucket.
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Sand the floor with an orbital sander to remove the remaining globs of adhesive that you were unable to scrape off. Keep the sander moving at all times and follow the manufacturer's instructions for the sander you are using. Use a shop vac and tack cloths to remove any dust created by your sander.
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Tips & Warnings
Remove the adhesive in a small area and then move on to the next area.
Be extremely careful when using a heat gun to keep the gun moving so that you do not scorch the wood under the adhesive.
