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Hardwood over linoleum

12 years ago

We would like to put hardwood down in our den, which currently has linoleum (no asbestos). The flooring is in good condition and we're reluctant to try to pull it up because it's so firmly glued down, except for one small area.

Would it be possible to reglue that one place, and then put down a hardwood floor over it? Or do we need to pull up the lino and attach the hardwood to the subfloor. I have a feeling that if we try to pull up the lino, it would be easier to rip the whole thing out and lay a new subfloor. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

claire

Featured Answer

glennsfc

12 years ago

If this is a nail down over the flooring, just go right over it.

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Comments (7)

paige16
12 years ago
Are you doing this yourself or using a company that is supplying the flooring? If someone else is installing it what do they suggest? You may gain height you don't want by keeping the existing flooring which would be more noticeable by any entrances. Over time you will have a better job if you remove the old floor. I say this from my experience in a kitchen and what happened over 22 years.
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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Yes, it is being installed perpendicular. I know it's not the ideal... but in the interest of time and budget, it's what we've landed on. We are likely going to do an engineered floor on top, to eliminate a little bit of the extra height. I would (just for my own knowledge on what to expect) love to hear the cons of this method, even if we're likely to do it anyway :) And it is a wood subfloor - so just add plywood ontop of that until it becomes flush is what I'm hearing. Thank you!
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The answer could be "Yes". It could be "No" or it could be "maybe...it depends". The trick with this is that new hardwood does not like sitting over top of OLD finishes...like polyurethane. And new hardwood needs FLAT. So the chances are VERY high that you need to SAND DOWN your old hardwoods (to remove the finish AND to flatten any obvious areas of concern). That should cost you $2/sf. Now the fun part...getting patch down where it is needed. It is possible but old hardwoods don't normally like to have concrete patch put down on them. They can. But they aren't fond of it. The cement patch often cracks and disintegrates as those old floors move. You will still need patch = $1/sf (on the LOW end). The other fun thing is: you probably have to install the floors perpendicular to the old floors....which will be AGAINST the installation instructions/warranty (most hardwoods must be installed perpendicular to the joists...which would be your OLD hardwoods...but the NEW one's would be perpendicular to THOSE = parallel to your joists = against all "Best Practices"). The way around this = DIAGONAL (lay it at a 45deg. angle). This should increase your WASTE into the 15% range = 15% more expensive than anticipated. So if you add up all the "trouble" you will go to, you will be paying about the same or MORE to do this. Of course you could throw down some plywood over top the old hardwood = go ahead as a normal install. But that puts you too high---so your ONE option to do this "cheaply" is not on your list. Go ahead and remove those old hardwoods (I'm assuming they are so OLD that they cannot be sanded and refinished). Lay new plywood and then install the new hardwood. The cost to do this properly should add $2-$3/sf (labour and plywood included). If you do this the "cheater" way, it should cost you $2-$6/sf (that includes the diagonal install with extra waste) and lose you your warranty. After all that money for the hardwood and install, that would be a sad state of affairs.
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We have red oak floors covered with carpet in our living room in our 50 year old ranch. That room opens up to our dining/kitchen area which is sheet vinyl on a subfloor (placed over old vinyl.) We were wanting to do glued down engineered hardwood over the entire area and the hallway. The guy who measured said we could put a subfloor over the hardwood to bring it up to the level of the vinyl. Sounded easy. Now the installer says we need to remove all the old hardwood and vinyl and do new subfloor over all of it. Who is right? Is a floating installation an easier/better option?
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Laurie
12 years ago
We installed (glue down, not nailed) our engineered wood flooring over the old linoleum in August 2009. The linoleum was not in the entire room (see pic below) and it was adhered to the concrete sub floor very firmly. There were only a few places along the edges (where the linoleum met the carpet) that were not adhered very well. Dh cut away those small areas of linoleum. I bought a special linoleum floor stripper product at Ace Hardware that I used to prep the surface of the linoleum before installing the wood. Dh also used a product (I forget the name of it right now) to smooth out the transition on the area where the linoleum stopped and the bare concrete began. He feathered it out to flatten out that transition. He used that same product to flatten out other areas where there were low spots on the concrete. We used a very good glue product called Bostik's Best to glue down the wood. So far, we've had no problems.

Before, you can see where this room had linoleum come out from the kitchen area and into about 1/3 of the family room.
MelissaRDH
10 years ago
this is the EXACT linoleum slope angle to carpet we have in our kitchen dining area right now that i JUST THIS MINUTE tore up a teeny corner of and my DH wished outloud we could go over it with our wood. So i searched and wouldn't you know here you are again LOL I should just get your numbefr and call you with ALL my questions while we do this project for goodness sake! Or better yet send your DH here to do it with my DH so I can NOT do it HAHAHAHA. He will be so giddy to not have to rip out all this lino now thanks!
MelissaRDH
10 years ago
was it feather patch brand that you used to level the edge of the linoleum? Did you dh have to trim the edge of the lino down or just smooth the concrete patch to the edge as is? do you know the name of the product you used on the lino to prep it? or how you use it so I can ask at depo?
janesylvia
10 years ago
Laurie, your engineered flooring looks very nice. What kind of wood is it? Where did you buy it?

Thank you very much.
Laurie
10 years ago
Melissa - I think the key is that the linoleum is adhered very well to the floor. We did not have to trim the edge of the linoleum down to create any slope toward the concrete. We just trimmed (perpendicular to the floor) any loose (not adhered perfectly) linoleum. The loose linoleum was only where the carpet met up with the linoleum.

I think the product we used was called Henry's Featherfinish and was purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot. Dh smoothed it right up to the linoleum's edge. I wish I had taken pictures of the process. I may be able to find a pic showing some of the feathered area.

Also...use a stripping agent to clean (& roughen up somewhat) the linoleum before applying the glue (if doing a glued down install).

janesylvia - Thank you! The brand is Lauzon. It's their Northern Next Step Engineered wood, Red Oak Natural (select & better), Square edge (no bevels) 3-1/4" wide.

We purchased online in 2009 from a company called hardwood flooring direct, AKA: Abby Carpet of Weymouth. They were ok to work with but not super great customer service. Next time, I would try Hosking Hardwood (online).

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