Hardwood Adhesive Removal and Why the Subfloor Is the Real Job

When glued-down hardwood comes out, the boards are usually the easier part. The real job is the adhesive and wood left on the slab or subfloor, because that surface is what your new floor will sit on.

If you are replacing hardwood or engineered wood in a Las Vegas home, understanding how it was installed will help you understand what removal involves.

How hardwood is usually installed here

In the Las Vegas valley, most homes sit on concrete slabs, so wood floors are often engineered hardwood glued directly to the concrete. Some are nailed or stapled to a plywood subfloor, and some are floating floors that click together over a pad. Each comes up differently.

Floating floors typically come up the most easily, because nothing holds them to the slab. Nailed floors come up with prying and leave nails or staples to pull. Glued floors are the ones that take the most work, because the adhesive does not let go cleanly.

What glued hardwood leaves behind

When glued boards are removed, they often split. The top layer comes up and the bottom layer stays stuck, or the board breaks and leaves strips of wood still glued down. Underneath, the adhesive stays on the concrete in ridges from the trowel.

All of that has to be dealt with before a new floor goes down. Leftover wood and hardened glue create high spots, and many flooring products need a flat, clean surface to install correctly.

Why the subfloor is the real job

Your new floor only performs as well as what is under it. That is true for tile, vinyl plank, carpet and new hardwood. If adhesive, wood pieces or ridges are left behind, the new floor can end up uneven, with hollow spots, gaps or cracks showing up later.

That is why the goal is not just 'get the wood out.' The goal is a surface your installer can use. What that surface needs to look like depends on the new floor. Some products can go over well-bonded adhesive residue according to the manufacturer; others need bare concrete. Your installer can tell you what they require.

What drives the amount of work

We will not give you a figure without seeing the floor, but we can tell you what changes the job.

The type of adhesive and how heavily it was applied. How well the boards bonded — a strong bond often means more wood left behind. Whether the floor is engineered or solid wood. Whether it was nailed, glued or both. The condition the new floor needs. How many rooms, closets and stairs are involved. And how easily equipment and debris can move through the house.

Occasionally, when the floor comes up, we also find something worth knowing about: moisture, a crack or an old repair. We will tell you what we see, because it is better to deal with it before new flooring covers it again.

A word about older adhesives

Some older flooring adhesives, especially dark adhesives under older floors, can contain asbestos. If there is any doubt about the adhesive in an older home, it should be tested by a qualified testing company before it is disturbed. We stop and advise testing rather than guess, and we do not perform asbestos abatement.

Dust and preparation

Removing glued hardwood and cleaning the subfloor is not dust free. We contain the work area, cover vents in the zone, protect the path through the house and clean up before we leave. Moving furniture and anything fragile out of the work area helps the most, and it is worth planning a proper cleaning before new flooring and furniture come back.

Baseboards and trim are also worth deciding on early. Some homeowners want them saved and reinstalled; others are replacing them. That affects how we remove the floor along the walls.

Plan with your installer

Before we quote, tell us what floor is going down next and share any requirements your installer has given you. That lets us scope the removal to the right surface instead of a guess. If you have not picked a new floor yet, we can still walk the job and explain what the options mean for removal.

Plywood subfloors are different

In homes where wood was nailed or glued to a plywood subfloor, the questions change. After the boards come up, the plywood is checked for nails, staples, damage and soft spots. Sometimes the subfloor can be cleaned up and reused; sometimes sections are damaged and need attention from the right trade before the new floor goes down. Upstairs rooms in two-story homes are the most common place to find this.

Laminate is usually simpler

Laminate is often confused with hardwood, but most laminate floors float over a thin pad and are not glued down. They usually come up faster and leave less behind. If you are not sure what you have, a quick look at a floor vent or a transition strip often tells us, and we can confirm during the estimate.

Get an exact quote

Our hardwood and laminate removal page explains how we take up glued, nailed and floating wood floors and leave a surface ready for the next trade. We serve Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, Spring Valley, Paradise and Enterprise. Call for a free estimate; we will look at the floor and give you an exact quote.