On May 8, 11:36 am, (Chris Lewis) wrote:
According to VV :

Folks,
I am installling new Laminate Flooring. In the Kitchen we have 25 yr
old Vinyl. I have been debating whether to remove it or install
laminate right over it.
Also, I have some spots where the floor squeaks when walked over those
areas.
Some contractors said that removing the vinyl will get rid of the
noise. Some said the subfloor is the one making the noise, so getting
rid of the vinyl wont help.

If you have floor squeaks, removing the vinyl will make _no_
difference. If the vinyl is firmly glued down, removal is quite
difficult, and flooring contractors seldom bother. Usually they'll
put underlayment (eg: 1/4" plywood) overtop of the vinyl depending
on what the final covering will be.

The only reason why I've remove the vinyl in our home is because it
was loose lay (a few glue globs at most around the perimeter) and
it's shifted/buckled in places. Shaving up the glue blobs (a
grand total of about 2 square feet) took the better part of half
a day. Imagine that over the whole floor!

First, attempt to find out whether any of the noise is because
the edges of a plywood subfloor have "missed" the joists. If it has,
reinforce that with lumber. If the problem is really bad (this
also applies to lumber subfloors), you might want to put a
underlayment plywood on top of the existing floor (on top of
the vinyl if it's not being removed)

[In one instance I couldn't reinforce underneath, so what
I did was lay PL200 adhesive over the area before the flooring
contractor laid 1/4 underlayment. They just stapled the rest
of the underlay, and glued the new vinyl overtop.]

Find out where the joists are, and drive screws thru every
8-10". Decent screws (preferably #10) at least 2 1/2" long, and
make sure that the heads don't protrude. I usually use #10 2 1/2"
or 3" fast-drive deck screws.

You can drive the screws right thru the vinyl if you're not going
to remove it.

We've done this in three rooms so far, and the squeaks have
completely disappeared. Whenever a floor covering gets replaced,
there's a half day of frantic screwing ;-)
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.



Regarding whether to remove the vinyl flooring or leave it, first
thing I do is check with the directions and/or the maunfacturer of the
product you will be using. There are many different types of
material that can be referred to as "laminate." In most cases, I
would think that if the vinyl is in good shape, it can be left in
place. It's generally a bitch to remove, so I'd leave it, if the
manufacturer is OK with that.

The squeeks are most likely the subfloor moving against the joists.
This can be solved by figuring out where the joists are then using
screws spaced every 6" or so along the joists.