How to remove old lino with a scraper

Shop for Floor and Wall Scrapers

• A heat gun
• A scraper
• A utility knife

Step 1 – Cut up lino

Cut the linoleum into 300mm (12″) strips using the utility knife.

It will be much easier to remove these small sections than to try and manage the entire sheet at once.

Step 2 – Pull up lino by hand

Starting at the edge of the room, try pulling up a corner of the lino without tools.

Please note

Lino normally comes off in two layers: a plastic layer and a paper layer. Underneath this is an adhesive layer which bonds the lino to the subfloor.

In some areas, you might need to use the utility knife to cut the lino away, like around the bath or edge of the skirting board

Step 3 – Remove plastic layer

Take the heat gun and heat up the floor. This will soften the top plastic layer, making it easier to remove.

Step 4 – Soften adhesive

Heat the lino up with the heat gun to soften the adhesive underneath the paper.

Step 5 – Remove paper layer

Take the scraper and remove the paper by scraping underneath.

If this is tricky to do, keep applying heat to it. You will find that some areas are stickier than others.

You might find that if the lino is coming off easily with a small scraper, you could use a larger scraper to take off more material at once. Whether or not this is possible depends on the age, type and quantity of adhesive used.