Vinyl flooring

[antighsiothail]

Any ideas on how best to get vinyl flooring up, it's been glued down over the entire kitchen. Tried warming it with a blowlamp but it just burned, would a heat gun be better? Is it down to just putting your back into it and scraping every last piece? Kitchen floor is concrete by the way.

 

[conny]

Heat gun will be better than blow torch for obvious reasons but you will still need to be careful with it.
Use a broad paint scraper and plenty of elbow grease. I would advise wearing work gloves in case the scraper slips, smacking your hand into the edge of a vinyl tile can hurt. Also, you will probably need to re-screed the floor afterwards.

 

[JBR]

I don't know what you're planning to put down in its place, but if the vinyl flooring is so firmly stuck down, might it not be better to lay the new stuff down on top?

 

[antighsiothail]

It's my daughter's house not sure what she is putting down, think it may be laminate. She hates the thought of having the rather skanky 70's vinyl underneath it!

 

[longdogs]

As JBR says, I would go straight over the top of it. Laminate flooring only 'floats' on top anyway. Just give it a good clean, lay the correct underlay for a concrete floor then lay the laminate.

Or get your daughter to scrape it all up

 

[ree]

Why do you want to strip the vinyl?
Is it a one piece sheet or tiles?

 

[antighsiothail]

Daughter doesn't like it and I think wants to put down laminate, not keen on having it underneath. It's one piece.

 

[ree]

Leave it down - if you lay laminate the laminate underlayment will go over the vinyl. Why create hard work?

 

[antighsiothail]

Not my idea!

 

[antighsiothail]

Or get your daughter to scrape it all up

Actually I think son-in-law is having a bash at it today, he's the one getting the grief

 

[ree]

If you insist then use a utility knife to slice thro the vinyl in lengthwise slits about 200mm to 300mm apart then cross cut strips in the centre and raise an edge - sometimes the strip can be peeled back up other times you have to scrape up each individual strip.
Use a cheap scraper and keep sharpening the blade (s) on a stone.
Dont use heat.