Removing sub floor advice

[Bill Jones]

Hi,

My neighbor and I have the same style kitchen floor. It mimics the craftsman style floor with 1 foot square tiles, the same as you see in super markets.

He decided to remove the tiles and extend the hardwood flooring. What he discovered was that the tiles were on a 1/4" thick flooring that had been glued and stapled to the sub-floor. Using a variety of tools, he managed to get it all up with the exception of the parts that went under the existing cabinets. He said he would leave that to the professionals.

I'm thinking of doing the same with our kitchen. I'd like to believe that the industry has come up with a variety of tools to make this job easier. If they are out there, I'll buy or rent.

Anybody out there who has done this the "easy" way. If so, what are the tools and where do I get them?

T.I.A.

[Dan G]

Go here:

look at the toe kick saw.

[Bill Jones]

Thanks. I looked at that site and more.

From what I can see, the pros cut the underlayment up in sections using a circular saw set to the correct depth. Then they peel it up. That limits the splintering.

In my neighbor's case, he used a pick and pryed off the floor without precutting. So, he had irregular chunks that splintered.

I'll precut the underlayment to 12" widths. I will then use the "big bully" tool to peel up the underlayment. Next, I'll use the toe saw for the detail work. If I do it right, the whole process should take a couple of days.

Thanks

[RoBo]

My preferred method for tackling this type of project:

cut the floor into 2'x2' squares (comes up very easy with a pry or crow bar). and wear goggles because you will be hitting some nails (sparks are normal). DO NOT accidentally cut to deep. there should be nothing but a score on the subflooring after removing the top layers.

and remove the finished toe kick from your cabinets (much easier) (replace it after new floor is installed) use a nailset to drive the nails through the toe kick , then remove it.

[MSH]

Shouldn't take more than a few hours by hand in a typical kitchen. If you buy that $2-300 saw for that one job, I'll buy it off you cheap. For years, I've just cut as close as I could to the cabinet and pried up the rest. It breaks almost clean and chisel the rest. There is a small saw on a drill I've ogled in the flooring distributor, but the cost just can't be justified for sporadic use.