If you're really on a budget, you could gently drive a scraper between the front edge and the top, then squirt in lacquer thinner until you can raise the entire front edge. Remember that lacquer thinner is extremely flammable and that if you rush and break it, you're screwed. When the laminate is delaminated, belt sand the swollen top to flat. Adhere with contact cement and roll it. Run silicone around the raw cut-out to prevent it from happening again. Be ready to take holly's advice. This post was edited by Trebruchet on Tue, May 27, 14 at 21:36

The first part of the trick to getting inconspicuous plastic laminate seams is to cut each butting piece simultaneously. Clamp both pieces about 1/4" apart and run a 1/2" double flute bit on a router between them guided by a clamped straightedge. After the contact cement has "dried" (squeaky when you drag the back of your fingers over it) 1/4" dowels are laid every foot or so to allow the piece to be positioned without sticking.The second part of getting a tight seam is to stick the first 4" or so of the seamed edges together, leave a dowel, pull several dowels and stick the piece. Pull the dowel between the stuck sides and work the hump to flat toward the seam. Too much hump and you'll split the laminate, too little and your seam won't be as tight as it could be. It's exciting. After the laminate is stuck and rolled you may have a bump somewhere. If so, you have to guess if it's just a glue goober or a chip contamination. With a plywood or MDF substrate, you can cover the hump with a board and whack it with a hammer to flatten it, no matter what it is, however, if it's a chip between new and old laminates, your new one is probably going to suffer badly. This is really exciting. Good luck.

Hi - thank you - this is the transition to the stairs. I adjusted the pics to zoom in what Im talking about, I hope this helps. Every instructional video I see, shows simply nailing the bullnose to the top of the stairs and butting the laminate up to it or overlapping them. I can't do that because the top of my stairs has somewhat of a bullnose under the carpet - same thickness as the subfloor. My guess is that I need to remove this piece and replace it with a squared piece. But Im hoping my guess is wrong and there is another way...

We've seen 'vinyl over hardwood' and it turned into an icky, slimy mess. The vinyl was in place for about 10 years. When the homeowners removed the vinyl (to reveal the hardwood) they discovered their hardwoods had turned mushy. Wood breathes but vinyl does not. When the vinyl was put over top of the hardwood, the vinyl caused the wood to sweat. That sweat sat on TOP of the wood (like a small lake) for 10 years. And that wasn't the only problem. The FINISH on the hardwood had a chemical reaction to the vinyl. The FINISH turned into a slurry of orange/black liquid polyurethane. Vinyl is a petroleum based product. And the polyurethane is ALSO a petroleum based product. The two put together have chemical reactions. So...if you are going to do this, you MUST: 1. Sand OFF the finish of the hardwood = $2/sf 2. Lay an approved underlayment for the vinyl (that is NOT a vapour barrier) like craft paper 3. Do NOT allow the vinyl to sit on the hardwood for any longer than you need (ie. when 'puppy' goes to the great dog run in the sky) Even if you do ALL of this, you STILL RISK damage to the hardwoods = unsalvageable. Or....you remove the hardwood ($2/sf for removal assuming it is ONLY nail/cleated in place...if it is glue down = $3/sf). Now you pay $4/sf for the vinyl and $2 for the installation = $8/sf. Or you have the hardwood sanded/refinished = $5-$7/sf. Oh...wait...that's the IDENTICAL price of purchasing $4/sf vinyl + $2/sf installation.....hmmmm. The value of the home is MAINTAINED if you keep the hardwood. The value of the house DECREASES if ANYTHING happens to those hardwoods. Remember: you have ALREADY PAID for those hardwoods. If you assume $10/sf for the hardwoods is INCLUDED in your mortgage. If you have 1000sf of hardwood, your house has a value of $10,000 JUST FOR THE FLOORING. And you are PAYING interest on that $10,000. If you want to change out the flooring, you will be paying another $7 - $10/sf for 1000sf = $7,000 - $10,000 AGAIN! What makes FINANCIAL sense to use up the floors you are ALREADY PAYING FOR. That means to go ahead and TRASH those wood floors. They are paid for! Why spend more on a problem that doesn't exist. And when you are 'done' with how they look, you spend $5-$7/sf AT THAT TIME! And to be clear...a hardwood finish = 25 years worth of life. It could take you 15 years or more to FULLY trash this floor. Imagine what money you could save if you put your $7,000 in the bank to gain interest for 15 years???!!!! You'll have enough money to move up to the TOUGHEST finish on the market = $7/sf...not a problem. Or you can ruin those hardwoods by working with vinyl. It's your call.