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Removing Linoleum from Douglas Fir

Jan 12, 2009
Shane
House

I’m onto day two of (attempting to) removing the linoleum flooring from our bathroom floors. It is an extremely time consuming and tedious job. I think the part that is the worst about our situation is that we only have the hardwood on part of the floor. If I take a couple steps over, I’d fall down into the kitchen.

Kitchen Looking Up

Bathroom Floor Stripped

Bathroom Floor Not Stripped

I’ve been emailing a couple companies in the region that specialize in reclaimed lumber. I’m really hoping I can find someone who can get me wood that will fit into our bathroom, otherwise I’m just wasting my time. Well, not really, as I could always use the stripped floor to patch up the second floor kitchen when that comes out as it will need a few boards replaced where the sink is at.

Here is what I am dealing with a little closer up:

Floor Layers

And what it looks like after being stripped:

Floor Stripped

And the tools I am using to get the lovely job done:

Floor Stripping Tools

Also, I think I mentioned this previously, but the “tile” in this room was actually plaster that was made to look like tiles:

Bathroom "Tile"

And the last floor related picture… does anyone know what I can do here to get the floor back flat again?? I’m stuck…

Warped Floor

While I was inhaling the lovely tar (and asbestos?) fumes from the floor, Casey was unable to resist working on the bathroom door. Since we first moved, she has been dying to get a heat gun so she could start stripping. Stripping anything. I had to talk her out of stripping part of the upstairs railing as I knew she wouldn’t have the time nor patience to finish it right now :) . While I wasn’t looking though, she started working on the bathroom door. I should have videotaped it. She was able to take a putty knife and slide it under most of the paint without even using the heat gun. It just popped right off.

Casey Stripping

Casey Stripping 2

Partially Stripped Door

I’d write more, but I have to be at work early tomorrow and I want to have time to spare getting there as this is what we are looking forward to tomorrow:

Wind chill readings 36 below to 41 below zero.

A perfect time to not have any insulation at all on our main floor kitchen walls!

8 Comments
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7 Comments

  1. Maya  •  Jan 15, 2009 @11:18 am

    We had the same challenge…, removing linoleum flooring off a perfectly fine wood floor. It was hard. Luckily there were some left over pieces in the attic to patch up where we had taken a wall down, not enough though. We had to mix and match, taking wood floor panels from places we didn’t need, such as from underneath the fridge.

  2. Christopher Busta-Peck  •  Jan 15, 2009 @11:51 am

    As much as I tend to favor shopping locally, you might consider looking farther afield for your flooring, if you’re intent on a really close match.

    I’m jealous of the great luck you had on the bathroom door.

  3. Andrea  •  Jan 18, 2009 @3:39 pm

    Wow…makes you wonder why in the world the did that? (putting linoleum over beautiful hard wood flooring.

  4. Shane  •  Jan 18, 2009 @4:30 pm

    Yeah, it is depressing. I’ll hopefully put up a new post today of it post-linoleum as I have finally finished removing it all.

    Thanks for stopping by

  5. michelle  •  Feb 1, 2009 @9:48 pm

    oh! so glad to have found this…i have three rooms (kitchen, bath, spare bedroom) with something nasty like this down, so am hoping i can have as much success in taking it up. was the black stuff underneath kind of tar-like? sticky-ish? that seems to be what i have waiting for me beneath my tiles…fortunately all the rooms are small. :)

    i think you’re the first other home i’ve come across who has similar window moldings! i do so love them.

    congrats on the work you’ve managed so far!!

  6. Shane  •  Feb 2, 2009 @9:58 am

    Michelle: Yeah, I really love the simple window trim too. It is a lot easier to strip paint off of too compared to those fancy pants Victorian homes with their elegant woodwork and all.

    And yes, the stuff underneath is kind of tar-like to an extent. It isn’t really sticky though, but that might be due to the age of it (I’d guess at least 40 years). My (uneducated) guess is that there is probably a bit of tar mixed in there judging on how well it was adhered to the floor. If yours is as old as ours, I’d recommend getting a mask rated for asbestos ($35-40 or so). I essentially sealed myself in the room while I worked on it with duct tape and drop plastic to keep the asbestos dust from getting into the living areas.

    It is also recommended (I did it to an extent) to keep the adhesive sprayed down with water to keep the dust down too. I used a heat gun to get the adhesive off, then threw it in a pile that I would spray down periodically to keep it damp.

    If you end up tackling this, I will warn you now it isn’t fun, and it isn’t easy. But please message me or email me if you have any questions. Hopefully your stuff isn’t as stuck to the floor as mine.

    Good luck!

  7. michelle  •  Feb 2, 2009 @6:45 pm

    excellent advice, and good to know about keeping the stuff kind of damp. thanks for the heads up on that!

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