Laminate Over Vinyl

Q: We have vinyl in the kitchen and laundry. Must I remove the vinyl before installing laminate?
A: As long as your vinyl is in very good shape – no peeling, crackling, bubbled up spots, etc then you should be fine to install laminate over it. Floating installations are rather versatile in this sense, but make sure you use a decent underlayment. Cheaper foam underlayments tend to have a “rice krispies” type crackle noise when walked over. Also, if your vinyl was installed over concrete, it is a good idea to install a moisture barrier as a safety precaution to ensure no moisture from the concrete gets into your laminate.
Now if the vinyl is cracking, worn through, peeling up or similar, you must remove it before installing the laminate. Having a floor in disrepair below the laminate will simply bring about problems later and will become visible in the floor as raised areas or noisy spots.