Woo buddy. THIS was interesting. My husband had redone the living room floor over a decade and a half ago when our youngest son was very young. It was a discontinued style and reviews had said it wouldn't last but a few years, if that. (I'm seeing a theme here with the floors in this house.) Well... Over fifteen years later it was time to replace them. Don't get me wrong, kids, grandkids, and dogs later it was scratched up and beaten, but still the planks held and it hadn't fallen apart.
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We started the morning out by needing to move the couch and loveseat. They were give to us second hand and we were very grateful for them. However, they had pretty much run their course of their lives. As it is way easier to replace floors without furniture in the room, we decided just to toss them completely. A colleague of mine had said after my surgery if I needed anything to just let him know. I texted him that morning and said, "It's not glamourous but Bill could use some help moving the couches out on the yard..." He came right over. We were very thankful. I couldn't move them and our youngest wasn't strong enough to. Plus he loves dogs and got to meet our boys.
Our boys, by the way, who were very distressed to see their couches on the front yard. (Our county has a bulk item pick up service. If you set your items by the curb and call to let them know, they will come pick up and dispose of them. So for a few days Jax and Rico go to watch sadly out the window at their couches in the yard. They were not amused.
It was a glued down floor, so that was fun. I was still in recovery from surgery so unable to do much but carry a few pieces at a time (they were light and skinny) to the dumpster in the driveway. I did, but slowly and carefully. Our youngest was tasked with helping my husband rip up the floor. Not a fun job. He kept trying to explain to her how she needed to start with one piece and use the crow bar to "roll" the planks back one by one instead of attacking them from the side by side. She isn't very mechanical or coordinated to it was a steep learning curve for her and the crow bar. But they got it done.
In order to get some of the stubborn glue spots up from the floor my husband bought a "spider" attachment for his Sawzall. Watching our youngest use it was amusing, to say the least, but it worked really well at helping get up those last, stubborn spots. We got it cleared, swept, and de-nailed all in one day. WHEW!
The next morning it was time for floor leveler and underlayment. You can see Rico, head helper, supervising our work in the photo above.
We began work on laying the luxury vinyl tile, simply continuing the pattern on from the studio. The dining room was finished first as it was smaller.
You can see Jax, chief supervisor, found a comfy and soft spot to lay on the backing strips of the LVT. I suppose it's only fair since their couches were on the yard...
You can see Rico, head helper, is very pleased with our work and requests a treat for his efforts. He likes chasing the roller we used to make sure the LVT stuck to the subfloor. It was very helpful. You can see a similar one here: https://amzn.to/3fJJcuD
It sure is pretty to see the floor continuing from the studio into the living/dining area. The continuity is very nice. And we are still in love with the floor and sad it was on clearance so we couldn't get enough to do the upstairs as well.
Be well, y'all.