Taking out an old floor sounds like a small job until you try it. Tile is stuck to the floor with mortar, hardwood is nailed through the boards, and glued-down vinyl comes up in strips. The floor is also the start of nearly every renovation, so it needs to come out cleanly and on schedule. Here is what floor removal costs in Toronto and York Region and how each floor type is handled.
Floor removal cost in Toronto and York Region: the real ranges
Floor removal is priced per square foot:
| Floor type | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Carpet, laminate or floating floor | $1.00–$2.50 / sq ft |
| Hardwood (nailed) | $2.00–$4.00 / sq ft |
| Ceramic or porcelain tile | $3.00–$6.00 / sq ft |
| Subfloor removal (add) | $1.00–$2.00 / sq ft |
The low end is a simple floor in an empty room with a clear path to the bin. The high end is tile on a concrete slab, thick mortar beds, glued-and-nailed floors and rooms that have to be worked around furniture and finished surfaces. A rough size and a few photos are usually enough for a firm written quote.
Tile, hardwood, laminate, glued vinyl: each comes up differently
Carpet is the fastest. It is cut into strips and pulled, then the underlay and tack strip come up with it.
Laminate and floating floors are not attached to the subfloor, so they lift out in sections, and the underlay goes with them.
Nailed hardwood is pried up board by board. The nails and staples that stay in the subfloor are pulled so the surface is flat.
Ceramic and porcelain tile is broken up and chiselled off, along with the mortar bed under it. This is the slowest and dustiest of the common floors.
Glued-down vinyl, cork and engineered floors have to be lifted and scraped, and the glue is the part that takes the time.
What’s underneath: subfloor and slab
After the floor covering is gone, you find out what is under it. On the main floor and upper floors that is usually plywood or plank subfloor. In a basement or on a slab it is concrete.
Most of the time the subfloor stays, and we scrape and sweep it clean for the installer. Sometimes it needs to come out: it is water-damaged, soft, or too uneven to build on. That is the subfloor row in our pricing, and it also exposes the joists, so a carpenter should see the framing before new subfloor goes in.
If the floor is part of a bigger job like a kitchen demolition, we quote the floor with the rest so it is done in one go.
Old vinyl and 9x9 tiles: test before you tear
Floor tiles made before about 1990 can contain asbestos, and so can the black glue under them. The 9x9 inch tiles in older basements and kitchens are the best-known example. Left alone, they are not a problem. Broken up and ground into dust, they can be.
If your floor is old, do not start removing it until it has been tested. A lab test costs little compared to the cost of handling a problem afterward. If asbestos is present, removal has to be done by a licensed abatement contractor, and we will not touch it. If the test is clean, we go ahead as normal. Permits and regulations for asbestos vary, so confirm with your municipality or the testing lab what applies.
Dust control in a lived-in home
When you are staying in the house, dust is the main concern. We seal the doorways and vents of the work area with plastic sheeting, use vacuums on the tools where possible, and carry debris out in bags and buckets rather than dragging it through the house. We work one room at a time, and sweep and vacuum before moving on. If more of the house is being opened up, see our interior demolition service.
Floor removal across Toronto and York Region
We take on floor removal across Toronto and York Region from our Thornhill base. Square footage, floor type and photos of the room are all we need to start a quote.