Lino in the Kitchen and Bathroom ???

Question

We thinking to put the new lino in kitchen, store room & bathroom, which has already got old lino on it.

With the carpet itself, it makes sense in taking out the old carpet & THEN put the new one, but I wonder if the lino requires the same treatment.

Should we take the old lino out (which is in average condition), since it's glud quite tightly to the floor itself & hence would be little pain in the neck to take out bit by bit. Should we simply have new lino (as recommended by the carpet & lino fitter) ON TOP of the old one ???

Answer 1

Yes, you can put new vinyl over the old... BUT... any 'lines', patterns, texture, etc... are likely to telegraph thru. What I mean, is that if your old lino has a bunch of squares... those squares are likely to show up in the new floor covering as 'indentations'... your new floor will literally sag into the old floor's surface pattern.

There are two ways to prevent this. One is called a 'floor leveler'... it is a mortar type product, and you use it to fill in, the indentations in the old vinyl flooring, before you lay down the new stuff.
The second method (and this takes care of those 'warranty' issues by having a proper installation), is to put down some underlayment. 1/8inch to 1/4inch luan works well, as an underlayment for new vinyl flooring, and it keeps your warranty intact. Whenever I put down underlayment, I use screws, not staples. Staples will eventually back out on you, screws won't. You could glue the underlayment down... but using screws gives you the ability to remove it much easier, down the road, should you decide to make changes.

If using underlayment, here is a tip to help with the installation of the new vinyl....cut all the pieces of underlayment to fit, but don't screw them down fully, just yet. Get all the pieces so that they are in place, cut to size, ready for the vinyl. On a nice sunny day... lay out a large sheet of plastic... large enough to unroll your new vinyl on.... face up, by the way. Let the vinyl warm up, in the sun. Inside... mark your underlayment with a pencil, so that you know which piece is attached to which... I normally take two pencil marks per side... this lets me re-align them later. Take the underlayment outside now, and lay it on your new lino... aligning the marks you made on them. Now you have an outline of how to cut your new vinyl flooring.... it's a good idea to cut 1 to 2 inches extra, around your pattern, leaving yourself a little wiggle room. But having your new vinyl 'rough cut' to your pattern, will make it much easier to install. Another popular method of making a pattern of your room, is to use Kraft paper (brown paper, on a roll). Go around the perimeter of the floor with the Kraft paper, taping it together at the seams... then use this to determine where to rough cut your new vinyl. Since I always used underlayment where I could not remove the new lino, I didnt bother purchasing Kraft paper, as I already had the pattern in the underlayment.

The benefit of leaving the vinyl outside on a sunny day, is that the new vinyl will expand just a bit, and it 'softens' some... making it easier to lay, and more likely to lay flat, when you unroll it inside.

Once you have the new vinyl in place... cut to fit... do not glue it, or staple it in place just yet.. let it sit overnight.... most likely, it will flatten out more overnight, and if you didnt leave enough expansion room, it will buckle up.

Ive replaced a LOT of vinyl floors, and usually allow 2 days total, to complete the job. First day is spent removing old trim, and either the old vinyl, or cutting new underlayment, and trimming the new vinyl to fit. Second day is spent on last minute trims due to expansion, and installing new moulding around the perimeter. Ive followed behind a lot of other crews that installed the new floor in the same day, and have always had to do something to it. Once my floor was down tho, it was down.... no other service calls were necessary.

You want to make sure the floor is CLEAN before unrolling your new vinyl.... if there are any bits of dirt, dried mud, sawdust... anything... it will leave a hump under your vinyl.

Have Fun!

Answer 2

Lino In Kitchen

Answer 3

Yes, put on top of the old lino, providing you give it a good clean first and make sure that it is firmly attached to the floor. There are some great linos available but make sure that you do not allow people who are wearing high heels to walk on it as it leaves little indents that do not come out.

Answer 4

I would personaly remove all of the old stuff and replace with new, you will see any rinkle or bump in the new lino that was in the old, also i suspect the fitters are saying this just to make there job easier, have you thought also that the doors will have to be trimmed at the bottom to alow for the extra layer.

Answer 5

I had tiles glued down in the kitchen and put old lino on top. The only thing you gotta watch is if both lino's are cushioned, make sure the doors still open ok

Answer 6

Most floor companys wont guarantee flooring if it isnt put over the correct sub floor but if your doing it yourself and dont care about that go ahead and do it just be aware that if the flooring that is there now is heavly embossed it could show through the present floor. make sure the floor is clean before installing the new one. wash with TSP

Answer 7

Yeah leave it down,as long as there is no bubbles in it and it smells ok.sometimes moisture etc from bathrooms etc can cause damp and bad smells.you should,nt av a problem if this is all ok.u never know what probs u might run into lifting the old one.

Answer 8

Most floor contractors will not bother to remove the old stuff it's way too labor intensive they just go right over it with the new.

Answer 9

depends...you moving in the near future or staying a long time?
I'd be tempted to lay on top. I did this 3 years ago and its still ok but prob only for another year or so...

Answer 10

if the old one has any rips it will show the indent in the new one in time but yes you can put the new on top of old a lot of people do it