Our house is a 1966 sub floor fondation, and there is original oak hardwood through out most of the house. So far, we have refinished the floors in two rooms just by sanding, conditioning and finishing with a clear coat--no stain and they're beautiful! Unfortunately, a previous owner did the unthinkable and installed engineered hardwood over the real hardwood in the front entry and two hallways. The engineered wood is ugly in comparison, and we can tell that the beautiful oak is underneath the glued down engineered flooring. Is there any chance the real wood could be salvaged if the engineered is removed, and if so, what would be the best and most economical way?
Oh Jeez, I cringed when I read your question! It got me thinking that the previous owners probably worn down the flooring and it looked bad so they covered it up. They probably didn't know how to refinish it. Unfortunately if you try and pull up the engineered flooring it will probably come up in shards. Then there would be gouges left from the pry bars. The glue would likely have to be chiseled off. What a mess! And there's no telling that the floor underneath it will even survive. But I had a thought: what if you tried to soften the glue by heating and steaming it? Maybe you could try a wallpaper steamer. I would try pulling up most of the flooring, then steam the glue that's left. Put down a layer of cloth to absorb the glue. . . then steam the heck out of it. Its worth a try.
Ya there is a chance.Pull off any trim on top of the floor in one of the areas-reducers,base board,1/4 round etc,with a pry bar try prying up a section(the begining of hallway would be a place to try).More than likely the engineered flooring is a toungue and groove or snap lock type,which is glued at the seams,and there is a underlayment of some sorts,tar paper or a foam backer.If thats the case then it will come up in big sheets,the pull and fold technique works about the best for me. Good luck
Have you called your local hardware store? They might know. Someone once told me that to remove a formica counter top from the wood (it's also glued down) to use a fire extinguisher on it. You have to use the right one, the one that gets real cold, and it just pops up. I don't know if it works or not, but if it does I wonder if it would work for your floor. It could be that the former owners put the engineered stuff down because the original wood was really worn and damaged. Just some thoughts. Maybe someone else can expand on my thoughts or has a better solution.
I've never run into that before... Sounds like a nightmare... But, heat and cold are two things you should definitely try... It depends on the glue that they used whether either of those methods will work... And don't use a fire extinguisher, that's sillyness.. Use ice in a leakproof ziploc, or dry ice, or something that you won't have to clean up after... If none of this works, you may want to gather up some elbow grease and just fly at'er... Put a small shim underneath your prybar to distribute the force across a greater area, lessening the damage to the floor... You're gonna have a looooot of sanding to do to get that glue off.. Ouch.. Good luck.
