Vinyl Planks over old hardwood installation

8 years ago

We have original hardwood in our 50s ranch. We did an addition with a slab floor. We are going to have vinyl planks over entire house. Should we remove all old hardwood and install plywood to bring up to same size or install our vinyl planks over old hardwoods? It will be a floating vinyl plank floor.

Basically trying to figure our if contractor was lazy and didnt want to tear out old floor or if its ok to kepp and install over it.

We can not save our old hardwood so vinyl planks are the choice.

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Comments (5)

Laurie Hutch
8 years ago
Leave the hardwood. Taking it up is necessary and just opening a can of worms.
nuppal thanked Laurie Hutch
SJ McCarthy
8 years ago
Be aware that the finish on the old hardwood CAN affect the vinyl sitting on top. Vinyl does not like urethane/polyurethane. And poly/urethane does NOT like vinyl. If these two things are touching it can create a chemical reaction that can cause the vinyl on top to stain. And the hardwood underneath (not a concern for you...) can also stain.

So be aware that simply going over top of old hardwood can be a bit more technical than you would think. If you can separate the two, with a layer of plywood (for you is fine because you are not trying to save the hardwood underneath), is a good idea.

And just to be clear, laminate floors do not need this precaution.
nuppal thanked SJ McCarthy
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nuppal
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
SJ, would putting an underlayment between the hardwood and the vinyl work? The vinyl plank comes with an underlayment pad attached. Thank you!
TCHANCE
7 years ago
nuppal, did you ever install the vinyl plank over the original hardwoods? How did it go? Were in the exact situation and not sure if we should remove our original hardwoods or lay it on top?
nuppal
Original Author
7 years ago
Tiffanie, we havent installed yet. I am in a remodel from hell :0) However, I am pretty sure we are going to remove the old hardwood since it smells like old people, its from 1950s, and has already been sanded. Everyone says to keep, but we also used to feel air coming from under the crawl space. Hopefully within a month I will have an update.