What to do with old flooring?
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I have a hall bathroom that needs new flooring. The old vinyl flooring is intact, just dated and has staining. Should I pull up the old vinyl flooring or lay new flooring directly over old floor? Does it matter what kind of new floor material is being put down? I haven't decided on the new floor material just yet.
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Pull up the old flooring. Always the best way to do things. Inspect sub floor and make any necessary repairs before installing new flooring.
If you lay new directly over the old, you will be able to see the pattern of the old after a while in the new flooring (impressions). If you don't want to pull up the old and don't mind a slight height difference just put down luan then the new floor. If you go with a peel & stick, you might want to use an adhesive as well. I didn't in a bathroom and it ALL came up when we had a very small toilet leak.
Kristen, if you are going to use a full glue-down flooring, you need to remove the old flooring. If you are using a floating floor AND the vinyl is sound and smooth, you can lay it right over the vinyl.
Watch out, though, for baseboards. Sometimes you need to remove the baseboards and reinstall to make room for the extra thickness of the new flooring.
Yes it matters what kind of material is used over old flooring, You can now purchase the new luxury vinyl that looks like wood and it waterproof. That can be placed right over the old flooring as long as it is stable. You can use peel and stick over the old floor. You cannot put tile over the old floor.