The Historic District

So, I was all ready to stick self-stick vinyl tile over my hideous and disintegrating kitchen vinyl floor, as a stopgap measure. But then tonight, when I removed the first threshold transition, I saw that the vinyl appears to be attached not to the hardwood underneath, but to a thin wood subfloor. Am I kidding myself to think that it would actually be relatively easy, if messy, to pull up the whole subfloor, and go directly to hardwood kitchen floor - do not pass go, do not install a temporary vinyl tile floor first? Obviously, the hardwood would still need to be refinished, but it seems like a shame to put another layer on top, when the hardwood is *so close*.

I am anxious to see how you make out. We have the exact same situation in our kitchen - we have ugly linoleum that appears to be over plywood. I am hoping they haven't ruined the hardwood floor underneath. But I am saving that for a winter project...

The one thing you should check is if the flooring and plywood goes under the cabinets. If it does then you cut the layers at the cabinets. Or remove the cabinets and open a big can of worms.

Your situation is the same as ours throughout the house. In every case, the original flooring underneath has been in relatively good shape, with only a few boards needing replacement and a good sanding to level out the crowns and shoulders in it, plus remove all the crappy flaky dry top layer. Our original floors are face nailed, so I had to pound each nailhead about an eighth of an inch deeper into the wood before sanding so as not to shred the drum belts. Your floor may vary.
Personally, I say take the plunge. It is so worth it to see that original floor all cleaned up.

Ok, I'm totally going to go for it. Guess I'll return the vinyl tiles to the store! As for the cabinets, those are all coming out eventually. There's only a small bank of them along one wall, so they don't have much of a footprint. But regardless, they're horrible and will be replaced at some point...

yeah rip that crap up! and post pics of what you find

The only peel&stick vinyl tiles I've used lasted a whopping total of TWO WEEKS. Then they started peeling. I vowed never to use them again! That makes them par with click laminate, the only other construction material for which I've made this vow. That usually doesn't even survive installation without chips.

kitchens can be difficult due to moving stuff around and water nearby.
Mine was stick on tiles, uner that asbestos 9x9 tiles, that was stuck down with stuff that was much like tar. The only way I could get that sh*t off was with an old iron. I'd heat it up and squirt water on the pool and it would bubble away and soften enough that I could get a putty knife under. it was a slow going job.
That done, a lot of the floor was either plywood or 2 inch boards, the rest of the floor was 3 1/4 boards so I had to replace some large patches with old flooring from other houses.

that all done and sanded I had nails all over that had rusted , and corresponding black stains from rust. i used wood bleach to get the dark spots off, and I thn had to stain the floor back to it's original color. In the end I won, it looks beautiful but what a job.

I'd still go for it. but before you do, if your basement is open have a look upwards to see if you can see signs of the shiplap underneath ( or whatever it is) being disturbed. You might be able to see from below if there are holes etc indicating the kitchen was moved about.

I had good results with using old flooring that I salvaged. I learned how to pull a board out of the middle of the floor and to stagger the joints about so you really can't tell it was worked on at all.


one thing I found handy, I bought some of those 18 x 18 interlocking rubber flooring pieces. i have used those as a temporary floor in many areas and can cover and uncover bits of flooring to try to keep it liveable. I would highly recommend that. it is even good when you are working on the floor to protect the soft sensitive wood after it is sanded. I now have it flipped over smooth side up to protect my restored floor until I can get other renos done.

one thing i don't like about the restored floor is that if I even just drop a can of soup it marks the floor and after so much work I am a bit afraid to live on it. The old kitchen chairs I have have ceramic wheels( so the butler can pull the chair out lol) I can't put felt pads on them so I am thinking of changing my dining room suite to something more floor-friendly.

cork flooring might be an easy and period authentic option, or battleship lynoleum if you can get something like that. worth pondering over because it might be a huge job.

Okey doke, I got started! I pried up about 6 square feet of vinyl and subfloor, and indeed, there is wood in pretty good condition underneath. However, there's this weird black/gray fuzzy fabric underneath, that's stuck to the wood. When I wet it down, it basically disintegrates and can scrape most of it off. Sanding doesn't get the remaining residue off, and water doesn't get *all* of it off. When wet, it's a black sludge that's just sticky enough not to be get-offable. I was thinking of getting some goo-off stuff and trying that. Any thoughts?

P.S. How cool is this? WOOD FLOOR in my kitchen!!!

Right after removing flooring, with weird fuzzy/gooey stuff on the wood:



After wetting down the floor and scraping most of the goo, with just residue left:

No matter the condition of the wood it will be a 100% times nicer! It looks good so far!