Archive for the ‘Floor Removal’ Category

7 Reasons to Choose Speedy Floor Removal

You have a lot of choices when selecting a floor removal company. Speedy Floor Removal is your number one choice for efficient, reliable, and cost effective floor removal. Not only do we remove your old floor with our state-of-the-art, virtually dustless removal system, we expertly prepare your subfloors for new installation. Speedy Floor Removal is your partner through the whole floor removal process.

#1: No Dust

We have invested thousands of dollars in dustless sub-floor preparation equipment to keep your home or business dust-free.

Did you know that just one square foot of floor removal can produce more than one pound of dust? Our state-of the-art machines suction dust and residue away as they work, making our floor removal process virtually dustless.

Other companies try to mitigate dust with tape and plastic sheeting, but we know from experience that these methods do not adequately contain the copious amounts of potentially dangerous dust created by traditional floor removal processes. This is why our suction machines use HEPA Certified Air Cleaners to capture dust before it spreads around your home or business.

#2: Speed

It’s in our name! Our battery powered, emissions free machines can remove the floors from an entire house or building in just one day.

Using Speedy Floor Removal to complete your floor removal project means the job will be done quickly and efficiently. Unlike handymen and other unspecialized contractors, we have the right equipment on hand to remove floors quickly. Removing old flooring and preparing subfloors for new installation is the only thing we do. We have spent years and thousands of dollars investing in doing it the right way.

#3: Skilled Professionals

Our crew of insured and highly skilled experts are trained to meet the toughest quality standards and committed to customer satisfaction.

Hiring the best professionals in the business is our top priority. We put the customer first and our crew treats your home with the care and respect it deserves. Our leadership, values, and highly skilled team are what set Speedy Floor Removal apart in an industry awash with unscrupulous fly-by-night businesses. Our team is not only highly skilled and proficient in using our industry-leading tools, but also extensively trained to protect your home and safely dispose of waste.

#4: A Better Installation

The highly efficient Speedy Floor Removal system achieves a perfectly level, superior sub-floor, ready for new installation.

Speedy knows floor removal is about so much more than just removing the existing flooring. Once the old flooring is removed, you are left with a variety of glues, residues, and other coatings from the previous flooring. Often several generations of flooring have used been in one area, leaving behind a whole time capsule of different adhesives! Placing new flooring on top of this mixture creates an uneven surface that looks bad, feels uneven underfoot, and seriously damage the new flooring over time.

Removing the old floor is only one part of our process. Our top-of-the-line grinders remove even the thinnest, most undetectable layers of sealant and adhesive, leaving your subfloor perfectly prepared for fresh, new flooring.

#5: No Damage

Our professional crew and state-of-the-art machines complete a safer, cleaner, and more carefully executed floor removal project.

You never know what is holding a floor down and removing old flooring can require a lot of force! Protecting your family, home, and belongings is a top priority for our entire crew. Every member of our team has been carefully trained in protecting your cabinets, furniture, walls, and other flooring.

Our equipment is the most sophisticated in the business, specifically designed to easily enter and exit your home leaving no impact. Trust your home to the experts who care.

#6: No Cleaning Bill

The fast and efficient Speedy Floor Removal system creates a simpler clean-up and disposal process, which translates into big savings.

Our state-of-the-art equipment uses built-in vacuum systems that remove dust as they work. Our team is specially trained to safely dispose of waste as it is collected.

Other services use tape and plastic barriers to protect your home from dust and particles. We know this is not enough! Dust becomes insidious and settles everywhere around your home. Speedy Floor Removal combines traditional plastic barriers with cutting-edge suction equipment to ensure your floor removal process is virtually dust-free, meaning the rest of your home does not need deep-cleaning after the project is finished.

#7: No Loose Ends

Speedy Floor Removal professionals do the job right the first time—saving you time and money.

Like any remodeling project, floor removal can come with lots of unexpected twists and turns. At Speedy, we know what to look for and assess the situation as soon as we enter your home. We endeavor to address and work with every unforeseen circumstance that comes our way, never leaving you high and dry with a half-finished project.

The Importance of Dust-Free Floor Removal

When it’s time to get your floors removed, dust-free floor removal is the ideal approach for your home or business. It can help you avoid the dust mess that can overtake your home while also keeping your family safe.

Dust Can Be Dangerous

Dust can contain residue from cleaning products. Some intake here and there can be a problem, but the problems increase when your floors are replaced if you don’t use a dust-free process. Having dust in your house isn’t always something that can be controlled. However, when floor removal is necessary, dust laying around the house can be spread all over if you aren’t using a dust-free approach.

Dust can be dangerous for people of all age ranges. It can impact those with allergies and asthma while producing itchy skins and eyes for others. Coughing, sinus issues and bronchial infections can also pop up from simply having too much dust in a house.

If flooring is removed without a dust-free approach, the amount of dust in the area can cause health problems for everyone in a house during and after the process.

Dust-Free Floor Removal Eliminates the Cleaning Bill

When flooring of any kind is removed, dust will be in the air unless you use a dust-free flooring company. It doesn’t matter how well you try to prepare, the dust will get into carpet, your air ducts and the fabric on your furniture.

This can cause further problems down the line. Every time you walk on the carpet, your steps will push dust into the air. The same thing will happen when you sit on any of the furniture. When you turn your air conditioning or heating on, the dust will come out through the ducts and disperse throughout the house.

At Speedy Floor Removal, we do the job right the first time. If there is any dust in your house after the process, we will pay for your cleaning bill when the job is through.

Residential or Commercial Removal

Whether you’re looking for dust-free floor removal for your home or your office, Speedy Floor Removal will do the job for your floor removal needs. The quality of work done on your floor removal will have an important impact on the next flooring that will be put in. Trust us to get the job done with floor removal that doesn’t need a cleaning service to follow it.

Call us to set up a free estimate at 352-448-3909 or send us a message from our contact page.

A Plan for Removing Different Types of Flooring

Comparing of the DIY Strategy and Professional Services

Remodeling is a great way to give your beloved house a much-needed update while preserving the setting of the memories that make your home so special. For a house, remodeling is like getting a new wardrobe or a facelift: it brings the space into modern times while revealing your home’s personality in a fresh new light. Many homeowners go through a remodel at least once, and with the help of the Internet, more homeowners are choosing to tackle some of this major task on their own.

The DIY route can be extremely economical, practical, and empowering for some families, but certain projects are still best left to the professionals. In the discussion of whether or not to do it yourself or hire the pros, the job of removing old flooring and installing new flooring has the potential to receive mixed opinions, and therefore, Speedy Floor Removal is here to provide the facts that will help make the decision easier for everyone. With our intention of serving Florida as a resource for helpful and useful information, Speedy Floor Removal shares what it takes to remove different types of flooring from the home should homeowners choose to do this themselves, and we also reveal the benefits that expert floor removal services can provide should homeowners opt for their assistance instead.

The Methods for Removing Different Types of Flooring DIY Style

Linoleum and Vinyl

When wanting to replace a linoleum or vinyl floor with new flooring, there is the option of placing the new flooring on top of the old linoleum or vinyl. However, the old flooring will have to be very smooth still, or it will have to be smoothed with a patching material. Furthermore, placing the new flooring on top of the old will raise the height of your floor noticeably, and this change in height can lead to lessened clearance under toe kicks, difficulty sliding out your appliances, and tripping hazards for guests or residents, especially the elderly. Therefore, removing your old linoleum or vinyl may be your best option, and depending on the type of subfloor beneath it, the manner in which you remove the old flooring may alter.

If your linoleum or vinyl floor is attached to a plywood subfloor, then you could choose to either scrape off the flooring and the glue, or you can just cut out the subfloor and the flooring as one piece. If you decide to scrape the resilient flooring away, you should start by cutting the vinyl or linoleum into six-inch wide parallel strips. After using a utility knife to cut the strips, break the linoleum or vinyl loose with a putty knife or brick chisel that you insert beneath the flooring and tap with a hammer. After loosening the flooring, pull up the strips to expose the glue, and when the old flooring is completely pulled away, use a paint scraper to remove the glue. Directing a heat gun at the glue to soften it can make this process easier, or if the adhesive material is tar-based, then applying mineral spirits softens it.

When removing vinyl or linoleum from a hardwood floor, use this same method of cutting the resilient flooring into strips, but determine first which way the wood flooring runs by peeling away the vinyl or linoleum flooring in a corner. Once you know which way the wood is running, cut your strips in the same direction as the wood so as not to cut across the grain. After peeling away the resilient flooring, use a heat gun to help scrape away the glue, but be careful to not gouge the wood. Sand away the remaining glue before refinishing the floor. The same process of cutting the flooring into strips to be peeled away and using a heat gun to soften the glue can be used on concrete slabs as well.

If you prefer to remove the subfloor and the flooring together, drill a hole into the floor to determine its thickness, then adjust your saw blade to cut a 1/8-inch deeper than the thickness. Cut the floor into three to four foot long sections if you can manage them, and use a reciprocal saw to cut flush with the walls while avoiding the floor joists.

Carpet

Removing carpet is an easier task when you do not intend to save the carpet. When there is no need to preserve the entire mass in a big roll, then carpet can be cut with a utility knife into smaller sections that can be taken out one at a time. The woven backing of the carpet will give your knife less trouble than the plush side, so fold your sections back to access that woven backing as you cut the sections. Cutting a border of four or five inches around the room before removing large pieces of the center section simplifies the process as well, and after lifting out the center section of carpet, you can pull up the border and then take out the underlying tack strips along the edges of the room.

Wood

Your approach to removing old wood flooring will again depend on whether or not you intend to reuse the wood planks in some way. If you do not have plans for your old wood flooring, then the quickest manner in which to remove it would be to work with smaller sections of the boards. To create these sections, use a circular saw to cut lines perpendicular to the direction in which the wood is running. In this way, you can form sections of wood that are one to two feet wide that you can then pry up with a pry bar and mallet. After prying up all of the planks, use a nail claw and curved vice grips to pull out all of the staples that remain in the subfloor. Use a large magnet to collect all of the pulled-out staples.

If you would like to salvage the wood planks, you will have to be more careful in the process of detaching them from the subfloor. This procedure would involve prying the boards up slowly by inserting the pry bar beneath the board and lifting the board about 1/4 of an inch, then moving farther down the board and lifting that section as well. After you have pried the board up 1/4 of an inch along its entire length, you must go back along the board and pry it up another 1/4 of an inch. Trying to pull up too much of the board at once could cause you to split the board or damage the tongue, so this method is much more meticulous and involved.

Tile

The first step to removing tile is to locate or create a starting point, which can often be found at the bare edge that meets cabinets, vanities, or other semi-permanent fixtures. If the tile runs unbroken from wall to wall, then a hammer and chisel are necessary to break out one tile to form the starting point for prying up the rest of the tiles. Depending on how the tiles are attached, pulling them up may be easy or may require great effort. However, no matter how much effort goes into removing the tiles, you will need a hammer, chisel, pry bar, or pole scraper to get them all up. After you detach the first tile to make your starting point, you will continue to pry up the tile from there. Once you have pulled up all of the tiles, you may also need to remove the underlayment if one is present in order to reach the subfloor. At the subfloor level, all of the exposed nails must be removed, and all debris must be cleaned up.

The Benefits of Removing Different Types of Flooring Using Floor Removal Services

While these instructions for removing different types of flooring may not sound too complicated, that does not mean that they are truly simple or easy to accomplish. In reality, they are still quite cumbersome and time consuming. Alternatively, employing the floor removal services of a professional floor removal company such as Speedy Floor Removal achieves the same basic task of removing the floor but does so in a way that is much more beneficial to the homeowner. The benefits of removing your floor with professional floor removal services include:

  • No dust: removing flooring such as wood and tile produces pounds of dust that can spread throughout your house faster than you realize when removing your floor takes hours or days upon end. Cleaning up and recapturing all of that dust on your own is near impossible, as the dust is airborne immediately and will still be settling around your home even a month or so later. However, the professional floor removal services of Speedy are virtually dust-free, so not only will you avoid the grueling hassle of cleaning up all the dust, but you will also dodge the dangers to your family’s health and safety that come with so much dust.
  • No glue: Once you have removed a room or a house worth of tile, linoleum, or vinyl, you still have to scrape away all of the glue or thin set. This is just more backbreaking labor that must be finished in order to install your new floor. To accomplish this, you may have to buy very specific tools and spend an uncomfortable amount of time on your hands and knees. Yet, the patented, specifically-designed machines used by Speedy Floor Removal effectively remove 100% of the glue or thin set correctly, which means that your subfloor remains undamaged and is perfectly primed for the superior preparation and installation for your new flooring.
  • No danger: if you choose to remove your own floors, you have to worry about protecting the rest of your house at the same time. You will be responsible to guard furniture, appliances, walls, and other flooring that cannot be moved, and that can be a headache of a chore in itself. Furthermore, the job of removing the floors will generate a lot of waste that could present problems to your home and your family if not disposed of properly. Therefore, professional floor removal services manage both of these complexities, and our lengthy experience equips us to do so with the greatest of ease. We have the skill to protect all of your other valuable investments by taking special precautions with permanent fixtures and by eliminating the waste in the safest possible manner.
  • No time (practically): depending on the demands of your current lifestyle when you undertake the job of removing your floors yourself, the entire process could take days if not weeks. To remove tile, carpet, linoleum, vinyl, and wood requires so much cutting and prying that you may not finish in one allotted weekend, and after you removing the flooring material, you still have to go over the entire space again at least twice to pull out all of the nails and staples and do as thorough a cleaning as you are able. With our powerful floor removal machines, Speedy Floor Removal can remove the floors from your space, even from your entire house, in just one day. Therefore, the savings of time is incomparable to the DIY style.

It is definitely possible to remove your old flooring on your own, but it is not always feasible for your family. In order to elude the inevitable pain, unknown problems, and potential dangers of removing different types of flooring from your home, consider the professional floor removal services of Speedy Floor Removal. To learn more about how our services can simply your remodel, contact us today.

Floor Removal Showdown: The Old Way vs. The New Way

What You Need to Know to Get the Best Floor Removal

So, you have decided you want a new floor, and you have therefore realized that the old floor needs to go. Sounds simple, right?

For the most part, floor removal is a fairly straightforward process and tends to be something not given all that much thought. However, when considering a new floor, it is vitally important to understand the distinction between what a flooring contractor can and will do for you and what a floor removal specialist can accomplish.

Even more crucial to understand is the world of difference between the floor removal techniques of the past and the full service, dustless floor removal performed by only a few in the present.

While full service, dustless floor removal does come at a higher price up front, by the end of the job, the old school work and old school price ends up costing about the same amount with ten times more hassle. Therefore, a more detailed explanation of the differences between the old way of removing floors and the new way reveals the clear benefits of keeping up with the times in floor removal.

Even more crucial to understand is the world of difference between the floor removal techniques of the past and the full service, dustless floor removal performed by only a few in the present.

The Consequences of the Old Way of Removing Floors

Asking your flooring contractor to take out your old floor just seems like common sense. Heck, he’s the one putting in the new floor, so it feels only natural that he would be the one removing the old floor as well. And you are right: removing the old floor is absolutely something he will do… at a cost.

What home and business owners need to remember is that the total cost of the project is not finalized with your contractor’s per square foot price estimate – not by a long shot. There is still more that you will need to pay: more money, yes, but also more time, more stress, more mess, more hassle, and headaches.

The old way of removing floors has been around since the Romans and has always involved hammers, chisels, grinders, and a bunch of guys banging away at your floor. Oh yeah, you should know: they’ll be in your house for the next few days. In the end, you will end up with a clean floor, but the aftermath may still not be what you imagined.

The truth is, the guy that wants to help you design and then install a nice and shiny new floor probably will not have much interest in the old way of removing floors. After all, it is hard, dirty, sweaty work. He knows it is a nuisance, but he also knows that it is necessary for him to be able to lay a new floor.

So, he will quote you a cheap price. He wants to make his money on the flooring and installation, not in the pain in the backside that is the old way of removing floors. He will get a bunch of guys, and hopefully, they will get the work done in the time and at the price allotted: hopefully. Please notice that “time” and “price” are the overriding factors. There is no mention of quality in this floor removal business model.

Think about this: how can you work towards both economy and quality when the intention of the task at hand is to get as many guys as you can to work as hard as they can and as fast as they can to get rid of as much flooring as they can as quickly as they can? Without luck, you can’t.

Where does the luck come in? Well, not even the best contractor knows what is under your flooring. They are also wondering: which sorts of adhesives are there? What is the construction and quality of the sub floor? Are the tiles and/or planks barely stuck down and will they come up easily? What sorts of glues and mortars were used and how hard will those be to take up? When doing this work primarily by hand, these factors dictate how many men and how much time will be required to do the job.

Harder mortar, an uneven sub floor, or – even worse— a delicate sub floor could spell increased costs and new problems for your finances. When it comes to adhesives, things could be even bleaker, because adhesives can be nearly impossible to get up by hand in some circumstances. One hundred square feet of floor glue could take one man three hours to pull up, or it could take eight.

So, nine times out of ten, your contractor will continue to do the work for you until his costs reach the price he has quoted you. We all know that nobody works for free. Still, you might get lucky: the floor may come up easily, and then the per square foot price quoted will have been sufficient. Otherwise, your contractor – or rather, your contractor’s people – is going to leave glue, mortar, low spots, or holes in the concrete unaddressed. He will do his best to floor over it and work around it, but in the end, you will pay full price for a discount job.

And none of this is the worst part!

The Biggest Consequence of the Old Way of Removing Floors

The removal of one square foot of tile generates one pound or more of dust. One pound! The situation is not quite as bad for wood and glue, but the airborne mess is still significant. And dust doesn’t just disappear, you know. It gets all over your house: everywhere, in and on everything. Plastic and tape are not the solution. At one pound per one square foot of tile, the dust will go where it wants and may get trapped inside your home for months.

That amount of dust will join the dust that was already hiding beneath your flooring, and this overwhelming amount will quickly settle throughout your house. Trying to clean it all up will take weeks and will not be easy: sweeping is ineffective at removing the dust and actually keeps it circulating around the house. Vacuuming is better but still does not sufficiently remove the dust from soft surfaces. Furthermore, in the extended period of time that you spend trying to rid your home of those pounds of dust, nasty dust-loving residents of nature such as dust mites, bacteria, and fungi will have moved in as well. With these changes, the safety and sanitation of your house will decrease, and your own health could suffer as a result.

When your body breathes in large amounts of dust, inflammations such as rhinitis, the inflammation of the mucous membrane, and bronchitis, the inflammation of the trachea, can occur. If large particles of dust make it to your lungs, the formation of various tissues and scarring in the lungs is possible.

The Benefits of the New Way of Removing Floors

Photograph of a specialized floor removal tool that Speedy Floor Removal uses to help floor removal to remain virtually dust free.So, the old way of removing floors involves hasty work, shoddy results, and endless dust. Not the best start to your flooring project.

Now, imagine a small team of trained floor removing professionals who only use patented processes and equipment. They are quickly in and out of your house, leaving perfectly prepared floors and virtually no dust behind.

The modern and professional floor removal approach employs emission-free, battery-powered machines capable of removing floors from an entire house or building in just ONE DAY. This more efficient process also causes less damage and leaves a far superior subfloor completely ready for new installation.

 

Yet, the most crucial aspect of a contemporary, skillful system of floor removal is the capturing of all of the dust. This valuable feature is only truly accomplished when HEPA Certified Air Cleaners with vacuum suction are directed at the source of the dust as it is created. This method secures even dust unseen to the naked eye.

Ultimately, you have to ask yourself: would you use a plumber to do your electrical work? Of course not! Experience and innovation make contractors experts, and the same is true for all trades, even flooring removal.

Yet, the most crucial aspect of a contemporary, skillful system of floor removal is the capturing of all of the dust. This valuable feature is only truly accomplished when HEPA Certified Air Cleaners with vacuum suction are directed at the source of the dust as it is created. This method secures even dust unseen to the naked eye.

The Benefits of Speedy Floor Removal

Speedy Floor Removal professionals are a unique set of contractors. Our effective training, knowledge, and motivation combined with considerate client support and high moral character are ideal characteristics for enabling us to really stand out in the industry. Another top priority of ours is also a rarity: we always want you feel comfortable with us in your home.

Our team is ahead of the curve by utilizing our patented dustless removal tools and cutting-edge equipment. Our videos demonstrate the amazing dustless system of Speedy Floor Removal in action, and our reviews on Angie’s List from previous customers back up our claims about character and client support. See what they have to say about our team and then compare us to whomever else you might be considering. We are up to the challenge, and so is the new and improved way to remove floors!

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