How to Remove Vinyl Flooring (and Check for Asbestos First)

Most old vinyl comes up with a sharp knife, a floor scraper and some patience. The slow part is the backing and glue left on the floor.

This guide covers the asbestos check, lifting each kind of vinyl, and getting the floor ready. That way your new vinyl flooring or hybrid flooring goes down on a good base.

Which kind of vinyl do you have?

Each kind comes up a different way, and carries a different asbestos risk.

Not sure which you have? Sheet vinyl comes off a roll, so it has few joins. Tiles are squares, and planks are long boards with a timber look. Click planks have shaped edges that lock together.

Does old vinyl or lino contain asbestos?

It can, if it was laid before about 1990. Asbestos was phased out of building products by then. Australia banned it completely from 31 December 2003.

In old vinyl, asbestos hides in three places:

• The backing of sheet vinyl and lino. This felt layer is the side stuck to the floor. It's friable, which means it crumbles easily and lets fibres into the air. The vinyl on top has none.
• Vinyl floor tiles. Here the asbestos is bonded into the tile itself. It's lower risk while the tile is whole, but breaking or grinding it can free fibres.
• Old black glue. The glue under old vinyl can hold asbestos too, mostly when it's black.

You can't tell by looking. Asbestos vinyl came in many colours and patterns, even a timber look. It looks exactly like vinyl without asbestos.

Check under newer floors, too. Old vinyl was sometimes covered with a new floor instead of being lifted.

It turns up most in kitchens, laundries and bathrooms. Read more on the national agency's page about vinyl flooring and tiles with asbestos. NSW has a page on vinyl floor tiles and asbestos too.

What to do if your vinyl or lino might have asbestos

Treat it as asbestos until a test says it isn't. Here's the order to do things in:

1. Leave it alone

   Don't disturb it until you have a result.

2. Get a sample tested

   A licensed asbestos assessor takes it. A NATA lab tests it.

3. If it's clear

   Lift it with the steps for your floor below.

4. If it has asbestos

   Leave it, cover it, or call a licensed removalist.

NATA is the national body that approves testing labs. A lab test costs about $40 to $140, says the NSW page on getting a sample tested. You can also post a sample to a lab yourself. Ask the lab how to take it safely first.

Old vinyl in good condition is low risk while the asbestos stays sealed in. So leaving it in place, or covering it, can be the safest choice.

Who can remove asbestos vinyl?

It depends on your state, and on the kind of asbestos. Here's what the government pages say:

For scale, 10 m² is an area about 5 m by 2 m. Even where DIY removal is allowed, the national and NSW pages advise against it. The national agency says a professional is easier, safer and often cheaper.

Read Queensland's homeowner's certificate rules, NSW's rules for unlicensed removal and the national guide for householders.

What tools do you need to remove vinyl flooring?

A sharp utility knife and a long-handled floor scraper do most of the work. Here's the full kit:

• A utility knife with spare blades. The backing blunts them fast.
• A long-handled floor scraper for the open floor, and a wide hand scraper for the edges.
• A heat gun or hair dryer to soften stubborn glue.
• A pry bar and hammer to lift skirting, trims and doorway bars.
• Gloves, safety glasses and knee pads. A dust mask helps too.
• Heavy rubbish bags, a broom and a vacuum.

For a big floor, a hire shop can rent you a walk-behind floor stripper. Only use one once a test says the floor is free of asbestos.

How to remove sheet vinyl and lino

Sheet vinyl and lino come up in strips. The top layer usually peels away. The backing and glue often stay stuck, and scraping them off is the slow part.

1. Get it tested. Don't cut it until a lab says it's free of asbestos.
2. Clear the room. Take out the furniture. Lift the skirting or scotia, and the bars at the doorways.
3. Cut it into strips. Score the vinyl into narrow strips with the knife. Narrow strips peel more easily.
4. Peel each strip back. Lift an edge with the scraper. Then pull the strip back low, close to the floor.
5. Warm the stuck spots. Heat a stubborn patch for a few seconds, then try again.
6. Scrape off the backing. Push the floor scraper over what's left. Warm water can soften leftover paper backing.
7. Clean up. Sweep and vacuum, then check the floor for old glue.

Most floors people call lino are really sheet vinyl, and both come up the same way. Our guide to lino vs vinyl flooring shows how to tell them apart.

How to remove glued vinyl planks and tiles

Glued planks and tiles come up one piece at a time. Heat softens the glue, so each piece lifts more easily.

1. Find an edge

   Start at a wall, a doorway or a broken piece.

2. Warm it

   Heat the plank or tile until it bends.

3. Lift it

   Slide the scraper under it and lift it away.

4. Scrape the glue

   Scrape off the ridges as you go, row by row.

Peel and stick tiles and planks come up the same way, with less heat. A hair dryer is often enough. Then scrape off any sticky layer left behind.

Our own vinyl planks are glued down too. To swap one damaged plank, cut it out and glue in a new one. Keep a spare box from the same batch for this.

How to remove click vinyl and hybrid planks

Click planks are the easiest floor to lift. They lock to each other, not to the floor, so they come up fast.

1. Take off the trims. Remove the skirting or scotia, and the trims at the doorways.
2. Start at the last row. Lift its long edge at an angle until it unclicks.
3. Work back across the room. Unclick each row, then each plank from the next.
4. Lift any loose underlay last. Hybrid has its underlay attached, so it comes up with the planks.

Want to reuse them? Lift them gently and stack them flat. Our guide to lifting a floating floor shows how to swap a single board.

How to get vinyl glue off the floor

Old glue has to come off before the new floor goes down. Ridges left behind show through new glue-down vinyl over time. They also stop a floating floor from sitting flat.

On timber floorboards, scrape off what you can. New glue-down vinyl needs approved plywood screwed down over the boards anyway.

How to get the floor ready for new vinyl

Glue-down vinyl hugs the floor under it. So every bump, ridge and dip can show through over time.

Our vinyl's installation manual asks for the floor to be prepared to the Australian standard for laying vinyl. In plain words, the floor must be:

• Flat and smooth. No bumps, cracks or holes. Fill them with levelling compound.
• Clean. No dust, dirt or old glue.
• Firm. Nothing loose or moving.
• Dry. A concrete slab needs a moisture test first. New concrete needs at least 28 days to cure.

Every step of laying it is in our glue-down vinyl guide and how to lay vinyl plank flooring. Going over old tiles? Read vinyl flooring over tiles. Then see our vinyl planks.

Getting the floor ready for hybrid or laminate

Hybrid and laminate are floating floors. They click together and rest on the floor below, with no glue. So they forgive small flaws better than glue-down vinyl.

Our installation guides still set firm rules:

• Flat. Within 2 mm under a 1 metre straightedge.
• Clean, dry and solid. A new concrete slab needs at least 60 days to cure.
• Nothing left on top. Carpet, staples, old glue and any old floating floor come up first.
• The right underlay. Hybrid has its underlay attached, so add nothing. Laminate needs foam underlay, with a moisture barrier film under it on a slab.

Hybrid can go over flat ceramic tiles too. Fill any grout lines wider or deeper than 3 mm first. For laminate, see our underlay and moisture barrier.

Every step is in our guides to installing a floating floor and preparing your subfloor for hybrid. Or see our hybrid flooring.

Can you lay new flooring over old vinyl?

Often, yes. And when old vinyl might hold asbestos, covering it can be safer than lifting it. Queensland's tips for renovators list covering it as one way to avoid removal.

Cover it when the old vinyl is flat, firmly stuck and in good condition. Lift it when it's loose, lifting or broken. If it might be asbestos and it's broken, get professional help to remove it.

• Hybrid is the easiest. It floats on its attached underlay, so nothing is glued to the old floor.
• Glue-down vinyl can go over it if it's flat and firmly stuck. Repair any damage first, as flaws can show through over time.
• Don't sand, grind or drill old vinyl to get it ready, unless a test says it's clear.
• Keep a note that old vinyl is under the new floor. Anyone who renovates later will need to know.

Check your doors before you choose. Our 2.5mm vinyl planks raise the floor about 3.5 mm, glue included. Our 4.5mm planks raise it about 5.5 mm, and hybrid is 6.5 or 9.5 mm thick. A door that catches can be trimmed, at $75 a door in our instant quote.

What it costs to have vinyl flooring removed

Our instant quote prices taking up the old floor and laying the new one.

Say you swap 20 m² of old stick-down vinyl for our vinyl planks. Taking it up is $500, and laying is $600. That's $1,100, plus the floor itself, the glue and any levelling.

If a test finds asbestos, get a licensed asbestos removalist to quote for that part. For the whole job, see what vinyl flooring costs in Australia.

How to get rid of old vinyl flooring

Vinyl that has tested clear can go in a skip bin or to your local tip. Check what your council accepts.

Asbestos waste has strict rules. In Queensland, a licensed asbestos waste contractor can take it away for you. If you take it yourself, it must be:

• double-wrapped in plastic 0.2 mm thick
• sealed with tape and labelled as asbestos
• taken to a landfill site that accepts asbestos, usually run by your council

Never put it in your household bin. That's illegal, and so is dumping, reusing or recycling it.

Read Queensland's asbestos disposal rules. Elsewhere, the national guide for householders gives the same wrapping steps. Your council can tell you where to take it.

Removing vinyl flooring: common questions