Removing Linoleum
After we took the carpet out, we had to figure out how to remove the linoleum. To make things a bit trickier, we wanted the floor in the downstairs to be level and we did not want to have any thresholds. This definitely made things a bit more challenging.
We started in the hallway, and I'll admit, Brian did most of the work here. Given that he has steel toe boots and a bit more strength, it seemed only fair. To get up the linoleum we used a combination of tools to include a shovel, a crow bar, a maul, and pretty much everything you aren't supposed to use in a house, since we didn't have a lot of the right tools. Our safety equipment is also not the best as we realized after this that we should have used masks and opened the windows, but at least we learned from our mistakes!
As we started the removal process, we realized that just pulling up the flooring wasn't going to be enough, we also had a remove a layer of subflooring in order to have the flooring match up with the height of the floors that previously had carpet. As a said, the floors were the great adventure. This took a ton of work!
Eventually though after two weeks, we got it done. Somewhere along the way, we learned a few things here.
1. Having the right tools help.
2. Wear masks and safety goggles!
3. Wear work gloves at all times.
4. Ear protection is a must!
5. Sometimes brute force is the only answer.