removing lauan underlayment

18 years ago

I am getting ready to tile my 10 by 12 kitchen with 12inch ceramic tiles. I have a 15 year old sheet vinyl floor - which is possibly just glued at the edges. Peeking through the floor heating vent, I see a 3/4 inch subfloor, topped by a 1/4 inch of lauan underlayment beneath the vinyl tile.

I have been advised to start by completely removing the vinyl and lauan underlayment at the same time. The HD flooring 123 book shows a method of removing the underlayment by cutting through the top 1/4 inch by setting a circular saw and using a pry bar to lift 2 foot sections. I am a little nervous about this...Has anyone tried this method?

Once removed, I plan to use a 1/4 inch hardiboard on top of the subfloor to support the tile.

Any advise on this would be appreciated!

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Comments (5)

jerry_t
18 years ago
The luan will come up fairly easy. You can cut it into strips as long as there is no vinyl backing left that may contain asbestos. Getting all the staples removed or beat down is by far the hardest part.

If it's ran underneath the cabinets use a sharp razor knife and score it several times and it should break off pretty clean.
missrudy
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the reply. Tonight I removed the baseboards and grabbed a corner of the vinyl and lifted and the vinyl itself came up easily. Yes, you are right in that the lauan has been installed underneath the cabinets as well - so I will score for a hopefully clean break there. Tomorrow I hope to lift the lauan. I tried a test piece and it looks like it has been seriously attached to the subfloor. So once the board has been removed, if I am going to put a layer of thinset then the hardibacker then do you think it should be OK to just hammer the staples in rather than pull each one out?
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jerry_t
18 years ago
A lot of staples will have slivers of luan caught underneath.. those I either pull out or use needle nose pliers to remove the sliver then hammer then down flush. You don't want anything sticking up.

Before you start the Hardibacker, it's a good idea to refasten the subfloor onto the joist with screws or screw shank underlayment nails. You should see how flat it is too... may have to belt sand some seams.
clg7067
18 years ago
"The luan will come up fairly easy."

Maybe for a guy. But I spent 4 hours sweating over the luan in my 51 sq ft front entry. Used the circular saw and a long crowbar. Though, it would have helped if the area wasn't so small that I couldn't cut all the way to the wall. But, I finally got it up.
missrudy
Original Author
18 years ago
Whew I agree with you! I used a circular saw and cut into small squares, then lifted each square. Some pieces came up so easily, while others really took some time to lift all of the staples. I still have to finish the areas that ran under the cabinets - I had trouble getting a clean break, and also to remove the dishwasher and get under there too. Hopefully a few more hours and I will be back to read about the hardibacker.