How to Remove Vinyl Floor Tiles?

Vinyl flooring is one of the most popular floorings because of its easy maintenance and low-cost installation. It is basically a temporary flooring that doesn’t last many years if your floor has heavy foot traffic. If your vinyl floor planks have cracks or you want a change in your flooring, you must remove the vinyl floor. Make it very clear; that removing vinyl floor tiles is not an easy task. It’s actually the glue stick with vinyl floor planks and the subfloor, which makes vinyl tiles hard to remove. Following the right procedure can remove glue down vinyl floor planks without investing much energy.

Six-Step Guide for Removing Vinyl Floor Tiles

Removing vinyl floor tiles is a good DIY job that many homeowners can perform on their own if they follow the correct procedure. I have made a six-step guide here so that you can remove your vinyl tile floor easily and without investing much energy.

Step 1: Prepare the Floor

To remove your vinyl flooring, you have to prepare your room first. Remove all the furniture and appliances from the room and empty your flooring area. You have to give yourself an unhindered workspace.

Step 2: Remove Baseboards 

Baseboards are used to cover the edges, so you have to remove them first before removing the vinyl floor tiles. Remove them by following the given guideline.

• Place a wood black a few inches above the baseboard to protect the wall.
• Now place the broader end of the pry bar at the point where trim and wall meet.
• Gently tap the top of the pry bar with a rubber mallet to force it under the trim.
• Slowly and carefully pry the trim away. If you do it quickly, it will break the trim.
• If you want to use the trim again, you should better mark its back to find its location back easier.

Step 3: Start Removing from the Middle

There is no adhesive in the middle of the vinyl floor because it is perimeter installed.

• Start cutting the vinyl floor tile straight from the middle using a utility knife.
• Move towards the 12 inches right or left and cut a strip corresponding to the first one. Cut in narrow strips so it will become more manageable.
• Roll the vinyl strips to make your way down in the length of the strips.
• After cutting the strips, gently lift them off until you feel the resistance near the perimeter area.
• You can use a 5-in-1 scraper to loosen the vinyl. If it doesn’t work, use a hammer or pry bar to chip the hardened glued.
• Pry up the corner of one of the vinyl floor tiles with a putty knife. Place the putty knife beneath it and remove the tile or plank from the surface.

Step 4: Remove the Glued Sections

After removing the middle sections, it’s time to remove the glued perimeter sections.

• To remove or chip away the glue under the vinyl tile, use the flat end of the pry bar.
• After removing as much as possible with a pry bar, you can use a scraper to remove the rest of the adhesive.

Step 5: Remove Adhesive from the Subfloor 

If your subfloor still has adhesives, you need to remove them with warm water and soap.

• Make a solution of warm water and liquid soap and spread it over the glued portion. Now try to remove it with a scraper.
• If warm water and soap don’t work, use a heat gun for this purpose. Hold the heat gun over the glued portion long enough to melt it. After melting, scrape the glue off the floor.

Step 6: Clean Up

Cleaning up the entire floor is essential after removing the vinyl floor tiles.

• After removing the vinyl floor tiles, use a broom to clean the room. You can also use a wet or dry vacuum to remove all the debris from the floor.
• Check if there is a local recycling center near you that performs vinyl recycling. If you are lucky enough to find such a store, you can give your vinyl flooring to them.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are vinyl tiles easy to remove?

Removing vinyl tiles from the floor isn’t difficult if these are the self-adhesive tiles. You can remove them easily by prying them up with a putty knife. If the tiles are old, you will face some resistance from the adhesive while removing them. Use a good scraper for this purpose.

2. How will you remove vinyl flooring from the concrete floor?

Use a scraper or a pry bar to remove the glue attached to vinyl planks and concrete floor. If it doesn’t help, you must use a commercial adhesive scraper to soften the glue for easy removal.

3. Is there any machine to remove vinyl flooring?

A power scraper is ideal for removing vinyl flooring. You can take a power scraper on rent to remove your vinyl flooring quickly and easily.

4. How to remove vinyl floor tiles from plywood floor?

Starting from the doorstep, use a wood chisel and a stiff blade putty knife to lose one vinyl tile. Check the type and condition of the plywood underlayment under the vinyl flooring. Use a scraper or a flat pry bar to remove vinyl tiles from the plywood floor.

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