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Hardwood over linoleum

serendipity01
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

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.

  • 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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