If your SWMBO ever asks you to...

[kscaglio]

remove linoleum say no, it will result in chemical burns on your arm and a generally bad disposition.

 

[viking73]

Yeah. It sucks.

 

[kscaglio]

Yeah. It sucks.

I knew I was F'ed when the do it best owner said "Yeah good luck buddy" when I said I was looking for adhesive remover. That said after 5 hours of stripper and sweat (not the good kind of either) I have it half done.

 

[Gamrchick]

You should have done what the previous owners of my house did. They just laid a new layer of linoleum or tile over the old. My kitchen has a 1/2 inch step up from the living room. We had to do a custom threshold. There are at least 5 layers going on in there. My bathroom is the kicker though, that one's tile. There is an inch and a half step up. Plus, I think they had carpet on top of that. There is a 3/4 inch gap between the bottom of the door and the tile.

I am so sorry for your arms! The joys of home ownership...

 

[glenn514]

Gotta love my heat gun and the Craftsman "multi-tool." Got about 40 square feet removed out of about 275 square feet. Gonna be another day or seventeen before all the linoleum is gone. Did I mention that my shoulder aches?

glenn514

 

[wobrien]

+1 on the heat gun and scraper.
-1 for wrong kind of stripper

 

[Sean]

I understand. My kitchen had 3 layers of linoleum on particle board. My wife thought I was crazy when I just started ripping up the particle board with all that linoleum attached to it, but it only took a few hours.

Then put down a layer of plywood, and new flooring.

Good luck.

 

[kpr121]

Gotta love my heat gun and the Craftsman "multi-tool." Got about 40 square feet removed out of about 275 square feet. Gonna be another day or seventeen before all the linoleum is gone. Did I mention that my shoulder aches?

glenn514

I was going to suggest this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/interests/diy/oscillating-multifunction-power-tool-68303.html

Harbor Freight multi-tool. Its not as nice as the craftsman but it will be 30 dollars well spent when you need to scrape stuff up. Plus I used mine to trim out the bumpout pieces of plastic/foam in my kegerator door so I could fit more cornies!

 

[usfmikeb]

I understand. My kitchen had 3 layers of linoleum on particle board. My wife thought I was crazy when I just started ripping up the particle board with all that linoleum attached to it, but it only took a few hours.

Then put down a layer of plywood, and new flooring.

Good luck.

Yep, that's how I did it too...

 

[the_bird]

I ripped up two or three layers of linoleum (with the old 1/4 plywood) from our old kitchen, as well. Lot of work, but no stripping involved. My brother gave me a great piece of advice - cut the surface into grids with a circ saw. I just set the blade down maybe a half-inch or so, just enough to cut the linoleum and the particle board, and basically made a ton of 12"-18" squares that I could get my Wonderbar underneath. That did cut slightly into the original hardwood, but I wasn't saving that (it was toast regardless), I was going right over the top with cementboard and tile.

But, I *had* to get everything out, because my floor was already a little higher than the rest of the downstairs and I was going to be adding another 1/2-3/4" for the tile. If I was just laying down linoleum again, there was only one layer, and it was in good shape, I probably would have just gone right over it.

I bet my floor was uglier than yours, though!

 

[Dr. Francois]

I understand. My kitchen had 3 layers of linoleum on particle board. My wife thought I was crazy when I just started ripping up the particle board with all that linoleum attached to it, but it only took a few

We live in a 90 year old house with original custom Canadian white oak throughout. Our kitchen and dining room came with three layers of cheap vinyl. Our flooring guy had someone rip it all out while we were out of town. We only paid the guy $150 for the tear-out, and he still did a great job. We came home from our trip to newly-installed 3/4" oak hardwood floors to compliment our woodwork.

Got to love that Rust Belt "grey market" labor force!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I'd rent one of these:

Regards, GF.

 

[glenn514]

I thought about renting one of those ^^^ and the fellow at the local rental place said that it would chew up the plywood underlayment quite nicely. He said it was fine for removing linoleum/tile from a concrete floor, but NOT from one with a wooden underlayment.

I broke down and bought my own Craftsman multi-tool today. Menard's had them on sale. I couldn't get a second battery at Menard's, so I ordered one to be picked up at our nearest K-Mart. It should probably be ready for pickup later today.

glenn514