Pulling up laminate or hardwood floors: what's involved

Before you start pulling up a floor, figure out how it's held down. Most laminate floats: the planks click together and sit on a foam pad. Hardwood is usually nailed or stapled to the subfloor. They're very different jobs.

Floating laminate

Pull the quarter round or transition strips at one wall, lift the first row, and the rest unclicks row by row. Roll up the foam underneath as you go. It's dusty but quick, and the planks stack flat for hauling.

Nailed hardwood

Solid hardwood is held by a nail every few inches, so it comes up one splintery board at a time. A few relief cuts across the boards help, with the saw set no deeper than the flooring so you don't cut into the subfloor. Then pry, pull the leftover nails and staples, and sweep.

The 1978 rule for old finishes

EPA's lead renovation rule covers paint and other surface coatings in homes built before 1978, and old floor finishes can contain lead. That's why paid crews treat finished hardwood in pre-1978 homes as lead work unless the floor has been tested and found lead-free. Laminate isn't finished wood, so it has no build-year limit.

Check what is underneath

Sometimes there's an older floor under the newer one. If you find old vinyl, linoleum or black glue, leave it alone: older flooring and its adhesive can contain asbestos and should be tested before anyone disturbs it.

What to leave in place

Leave the subfloor, the baseboards and the stair treads. In an older home, leave painted trim on the wall too. The new floor goes down over a clean subfloor, and the trim goes back on top.

When to hand it off

Our laminate floor removal lifts floating floors and their foam, and our hardwood floor removal pulls up nailed or stapled wood in homes built in 1978 or later, nails included. Both haul every board away the same visit, and we can take out any carpet in the next room on the same trip.