Although hardwood floors should last about 40 years, in the real world things happen to damage it over time and sometimes it becomes necessary to remove hardwood floors. Whether you are interested in removing few pieces without damaging it or to go for hardwood flooring demolition, it will depend on a few factors such as the following:
- Was the original installation done well?
- Is it a floating hardwood floor or a hardwood floor that is glued down?
- What type of floor will you be installing after removing hardwood flooring?
- List of Tools
Circular Saw – You’ll need a circular saw for when you need to cut into the floor.
Chisel – You never know when you’ll need to get into a tight groove or push through some glue.
Claw Hammer – When floor panels are stuck up next to a wall area, you’ll need a claw hammer to grab, pull, and rip them out.
Flooring Scraper – The only way you’ll get through a lot of glue is with the flooring scraper.
Pry Bar – These are a necessity when it comes to picking up floor panels that are stuck.
Sledge Hammer – When nothing else will get through, you can always count on your sledge hammer to bust things.
Before removing hardwood flooring It is important to understand what kind of flooring was used and how it was installed before you begin removing it. This will help you choose the right tools for the job.
If you aren’t trying to preserve the wood, do some pre-cuts with your circular saw to make it easy to get started. These should be 1-2 feet areas. If you were not sure how the floor was laid before, you should know after doing this. Make sure you don’t cut down into the foundation.
- Steps removing hardwood flooring
1.Hit each area of the floor with the sledge hammer enough to break things loose, but not so much as to break the foundation.
2.Use your pry bar to lift the panels and panel fragments up off of the foundation. You may find that it is easier if you use the tongued areas of the panels to pick them up out of the floor. Also, if you pull the panels out individually and stack them as you go, you will save a of of cleanup time and may leave the surface area better preserved for installation of the next floor.
3.If there is glue stuck beneath where the panels were, you need to scrape it up with the flooring scraper and the chisel as needed.
If the floor you have removed was glued down, it may be quite a task for you to get your mess cleaned up adequately. In this case there will be glue fragments and stuck pieces of glue that could take hours to clean.
Saw dust and tiny pieces of wood are usually everywhere. If you have a sturdy vacuum you can save some time, but you’ll likely be finding things to clean up manually that will take you quite a few hours to complete.
Simple Floors Heritage Woodcraft’s Vintage Couture Hand-scraped Hardwood Flooring Collection
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Real Hand-scraped Bamboo Flooring Hardwood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Lapacho Exotic Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Engineered Hickory Red Hand Scraped Hardwood Floor $1,196.07 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hickory Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Floors Sample $0.99 |
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Maple Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Wood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Engineered Birch Hand Scraped Hardwood Floor $2.59 |
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Engineered Birch Hand Scraped Hardwood Floor $2.59 |
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Hand Scraped Birch Hardwood Flooring Wood Engineered $2.79 |
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Engineered Hand Scraped Expresso Hardwood Floor $2.59 |
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Hand-scraped Oak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Engineered Birch Hand Scraped Hardwood Floor $2.59 |
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Hand-scraped Teak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Engineered Hand Scraped Red Wine 5″ Hardwood Floor $3.99 |
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Engineered Hand Scraped Maple Walnut 5″Hardwood Floor $3.99 |
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Engineered Hand Scraped Maple Auburn 5″ Hardwood Floor $3.99 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Maple Auburn 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Maple Walnut 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Bamboo Caramel Hardwood Floor 5-1/8″ $4.36 |
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American Cherry Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Elm Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Wood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Brazilian Walnut Hardwood Floors Hand-scraped Sample $0.99 |
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Hickory Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Floors Sample $0.99 |
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Real Hand-scraped Bamboo Flooring Hardwood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hardwood Flooring Maple Hand-scraped Wood Floors Sample $0.99 |
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Natural Hickory Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Oak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Teak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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American Cherry Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Maple Auburn 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Maple Walnut 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Maple Walnut 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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GENUINE HAND SCRAPED BAMBOO HARDWOOD FLOORING WALNUT $2.99 |
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Solid Hand Scraped Red Wine 5″ wide Hardwood Floor $4.29 |
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Oak Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Wood Floors Sample $0.99 |
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Brazilian Walnut Hardwood Floors Hand-scraped Sample $0.99 |
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Lapacho Exotic Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Real Hand-scraped Bamboo Flooring Hardwood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hickory Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Floors Sample $0.99 |
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Maple Hardwood Flooring Hand-scraped Wood Floor Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Oak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Teak Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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Hand-scraped Maple Hardwood Floors Wood Flooring Sample $0.99 |
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American Cherry Hardwood Hand-scraped Flooring Sample $0.99 |
