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Looking at options for new flooring in the kitchen. Current floor is sheet vinyl over 1/4" ply underlayment over the orignal floor old-school linoleum. Can I put nail down flooring directly over the vinyl? I think the answer is no, but not sure why.
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David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment. -
Just wondering what is under the old floor? If you have subfloor I'd tear it down to that and put your new floor, if it's real hardwood over that. You want to have the hard wood anchored to something solid. Vinyl has some flex in it and could loosen the fasteners and cause squeaks over time. If you are using a laminate, like a glueless, I'd think you could just lay that right on the vinyl floor. They give you a rubber mat to put under the laminate, but I think you could skip the mat and let the vinyl do that job. Another consideration is heights of cupboards and appliances and doors. IMHO.Tim
We didn't get much done today, but we'll give'r heck tomorrow. -
Under the old floor is 3/4" ply subfloor. So the fasteners would go through the vinyl, through the 1/4" underlayment, through the original linoleum and into the subfloor.David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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If you leave the vinyl and and 1/4" underlayment you'll use up about half your fastener length getting through that. Pull up the vinyl and underlayment and you can use the linoleum for a vapor barrier. There'll still be reasonable fastener length with just the linoleum down. If it's genuine linoleum it'll be glued down with asbestos bearing adhesive. It's best not to mess with that.
I used a circular saw set to just cut the underlayment to get rid of a layer of vinyl and 1/4" underlayment in my kitchen. Use a demo blade in the saw. You will hit nails and staples. Cut into reasonable size chunks the underlayment won't be to hard to pull up. Yanking the old fasteners is a chore but that's all it is.
Good Luck,
JanComment
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Assuming you're putting down 3/4" solid wood, I'll second what Jan said. I'm going through this process right now, so I've done a lot of research and found that most flooring co's won't honor a warranty unless it's nailed directly to plywood. Leaving the old linoleum in place might also void the warranty, but I'd be inclined to leave it.
Based on your recent posts, it sounds like we're doing pretty similar things right now...concrete countertops, undermount sink, wood flooring etc. I'm not brave enough to do my own countertop, though...
I'll post pics when all is done...hoping by the end of Feb
Mike
Drywall screws are not wood screwsComment
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If you nail over the sheet goods, you would have to worry about the wood floor getting uneven because of deterioration in the vinyl. Normally, the height of the final floor is also an issue if you do not go down to the subfloor.
We have wood in our kitchen that was finished in place "professionally". I have already refinished it twice and it isn't in great shape now (7 years use). If it was pre-finished I think it would have held up better but I am going to try hard to convince my wife to go with tile next time. It holds up a whole lot better than wood. With tile, you have to strip down to the subfloor and then put down concrete backer then the tile. A lot of work but then you have a floor that will hold up.
JimComment
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I'm with the majority here. Put in 800 sf of laminate a few years ago and did not pull the vinyl / underlayment up first. I was a DIY newbie at that point at did not think it was that big a deal to leave it. After seeing how easy it was to cut it out of two bathrooms later in the project, I wish I had.
Jan is right on the money. Sacrifical saw blade (due to the nails / staples) and a prybar should be all you need. I think you'll be happier you did.
PeteComment
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Caution!
Depending somewhat on how old it is, the sheet vinyl itself may contain asbestos. My kitchen contained some that did, so I went over it with underlayment and cement board when I laid ceramic tile.
SidComment
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