Replacing linoleum...

[OBXTucker]

I ordered some Lonseal teak/holly flooring to replace the 30+ year old vinyl in the head and hallway outside the engine room.

I'm sure many of you have removed the old stuff, so I'm curious how easily it came out? Any typical Hatteras surprises? They didn't lay it down with 5200 or something similar, did they?.

Hoping it will come out in one piece and allow me to use the old stuff as a template. Also, anything special about unbolting the head to remove the old/replace the new stuff?

Thanks!

[Angela]

Don't remove it. It's likely to be asbestos and it will not just peel right up - at least mine didn't. Just cover over it. That's what I did with the Plasteak sheeting about five years ago. Ed showed me how to use strips of posterboard to make a template. He posted some photos somewhere here. It was perfect!

P.S. Yes, Ed did post a few photos as to how we made the templates and then cut the new floor sheeting. Look under "egaito" and look at his photos in the gallery. They are there. We did three heads and the crew stateroom.

[SKYCHENEY]

Heat gun and a scraper knife. I pulled all of mine up.

[Angela]

Heat gun and a scraper knife. I pulled all of mine up.

Sky, if I recall, yours being a 1985, it wasn't Congoleum (asbestos) so there would be no physical harm to having it flake apart or be disturbed in any way while you are working on getting it out. I don't know what year OBXTucker's boat is, but those LRCs were built 1975-1981 so there is a very good chance he's got asbestos flooring. I understand the asbestos flooring was halted around 1980 or shortly thereafter. I really hesitate to tell anyone to disturb that stuff with a scraper unless the boat is at least from the mid-80s production. It's something one has to just roll the dice on and decide whether it's worth the risk to remove it. I glued new flooring down over the old and it's solid.

[OBXTucker]

I just spent some time looking at Egaito's flooring templates. Good stuff!
The original Linoleum is solid, so I'm not concerned about gluing over top, but it would be nice to start from scratch. Kind of like painting over wall paper....I just hate doing something half assed. That said, if there are environmental and health concerns, screw it...I'll just glue over top!

Can Roger or someone at Hatt or JB definitively confirm when they stopped using asbestos?

[Jaxfishgyd]

We really need to delete this thread !!! IF my admiral sees it, she will want me to do our galley, front berth, master stateroom and both heads !!!!! 10 days till retirement....

[MikeP]

I did the same as Sky - heat gun/scraper on all the oem linoleum, galley, heads before replacing with Amtico. It was all asbestos backed but it came up with no issues at all. I would personally not put new floor covering over old but, as noted, it will probably work OK if the old is sound and firmly attached.

[dcate]

I don't know if it matters.

Intellectually it's not right. Though practically speaking....the teak and holley I put over mine isn't going any where any time soon. Lonseal may make a difference though, I don't know.

[Maynard Rupp]

I did our head and galley floors about 6 years ago. I removed the old material in the head as it wasn't stuck well. The galley stuff was in good shape so I just covered over it. We used Plasteak and it still looks like new after 6 years. We live on our boat all winter so it does see see a good bit of use. Great product.

[jim rosenthal]

If this stuff has asbestos in it, either leave it in place or figure out how to remove it without risk to yourself. That may require professionals to do it. I don't want to be an alarmist here, but the risks of accidentally inhaling any asbestos fibers are quite real, and supremely ugly if you are unfortunate enough to do it. If you have the option of gluing something over a floor which is asbestos, I'd do that. I wouldn't try to take it up.