Installing Flooring Over Old Hardwood: When It Works and When It Does Not | Top Floorings Depot Toronto
Installing new flooring over old hardwood works in GTA homes when the existing floor is solid and level. Here is when it works, when it does not, and what to watch out for.
Installing new flooring over existing hardwood sounds like a shortcut that saves time, money, and the mess of tearing out an old floor. In some GTA homes it is exactly that — a smart, practical move. In others it creates problems that cost more to fix than just starting from the slab. Here is how to know which situation you are in.
Top Floorings Depot carries engineered hardwood, SPC vinyl, and laminate products that work well as overlays. We are at 3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 1, Toronto — open Monday–Friday 9–5:30, Saturday 9–4. Visit us to see the full range in person before you decide.
When Installing Over Old Hardwood Makes Sense
Three conditions make overlaying a reasonable choice for GTA homeowners. First, the existing floor is solid hardwood — not particleboard, not click-lock laminate from the 1990s — and it is firmly glued or nailed down with no signs of movement. Second, the surface is reasonably level. Third, adding the extra floor height does not create an impossible transition into adjacent rooms. If all three line up, the overlay route can work well.
When You Should Remove the Old Hardwood First
Some situations make removal the only real option. Cupping — where board edges sit higher than the centre — usually means the floor has absorbed moisture unevenly and will continue to move under a new overlay. Significant squeaking or bounce in the old hardwood after you have walked across it suggests the subfloor or joists need attention that a new floor on top will not fix. Floors with widespread mold or water damage need to come out so the root cause can be addressed. If your existing hardwood was itself installed as an overlay on a problematic subfloor, adding another layer compounds the problem rather than solving it. Old adhesive that cannot be scraped clean — common with cutback adhesives used before the 1990s — makes overlaying impractical because the adhesive can bleed through and compromise the new floor's bond.
How Much Height Will You Add to the Floor?
When you lay new flooring over existing hardwood, the floor gets higher by the thickness of the new product. An 8mm SPC vinyl floor adds roughly 8mm. A 10mm SPC vinyl floor adds 10mm. Engineered hardwood at 18mm total thickness adds 18mm in most cases. That matters most at door openings — interior doors in GTA homes typically clear ¾" hardwood with about ½" clearance. Adding 8–10mm may mean trimming the bottom of the door, installing a transition strip, or removing and rehanging the door if clearance is too tight.
Baseboards present another consideration. If they are already installed sitting on top of the old hardwood, the baseboards will appear to "float" about 8–10mm higher off the new floor surface once the overlay goes in. The practical options are removing and reinstalling baseboards at the correct height — or leaving the gap and filling it with a small scribe fill or caulking behind the baseboard. Smaller gaps of 5mm or less usually disappear cleanly behind baseboard shoe molding.
If you are considering solid hardwood as the overlay product, adding ¾" (19mm) on top of existing hardwood creates a significant height jump at every door frame, stair nosing, and room transition. Engineered hardwood at 18mm total thickness handles this more gracefully, and SPC vinyl at 8–10mm often requires only minimal door trimming. Factor this in before you commit to a product.
Our Top Picks for Overlay Installations at Top Floorings Depot
These products are well-suited for overlay situations where keeping floor height manageable matters:
Riche Anthracite Oak 10mm SPC Vinyl — 10mm total with 12mil wear layer. The 10mm thickness keeps transitions at doorways manageable while still giving you a durable, waterproof surface. The dark colour hides wear well in high-traffic areas.
Riche Dark Tobacco 12mm EIR Laminate — Embossed-in-register texture gives this laminate a look closer to real hardwood while staying thin enough for practical overlay use. The 12mm thickness contributes to a solid, stable feel underfoot.
Top Floorings European Oak Hazelnut 6.5in 2mm Engineered Hardwood — 6.5" wide plank at 2mm wear layer, $3.69/sqft. The narrow width makes it easier to work with in older GTA homes where walls and door openings may not be perfectly straight. The warm tone works well in both modern and traditional spaces.
What Mistakes Should Toronto Homeowners Avoid When Overlaying Hardwood?
The most common mistake is failing to check the condition of the existing floor before committing to an overlay. Just because the old hardwood looks okay does not mean it will perform well under a new floor once that floor is loading it and the temperature and humidity in the home shift through a Toronto winter. Check for hidden moisture damage in corners, under furniture, and around exterior door frames before you decide to overlay.
Forgetting about the height change at floor transitions catches a lot of GTA homeowners off guard. A new floor in the hallway that sits 10mm higher than the existing ceramic tile in the bathroom creates an abrupt step that code considers a trip hazard. Plan your transitions before you buy materials — not after they arrive.
Using a standard reducer strip to bridge a significant height change rarely produces a clean result. If your transition is more than about 12mm, use a t-moulding profile designed for heavy-duty transitions or consider having a metal transition custom-fabricated to match your flooring colour.
Do not add a second underlayment pad under SPC vinyl if the product you bought already has one attached. The attached pad in Riche SPC products is a moisture barrier and acoustic layer — adding another pad underneath makes the floor too soft and can cause joint failure in the locking system under load.
What to Do Before You Install
Clean the existing floor thoroughly before the new flooring goes down. Sand, dust, wax, and old soap residue all interfere with the new floor's ability to sit flat and bond where needed. Pull any protruding staples or nails, or punch them flush with a nail set. Fill low spots in the old hardwood surface with a levelling compound — SPC vinyl needs a flat subfloor to click together properly and can telegraph unevenness through the surface over time.
Run the new floor perpendicular to the direction of the existing hardwood boards where possible. This is not required with SPC vinyl or modern click-lock laminate, but doing so distributes the load more evenly across both floor layers. Leave expansion gaps around the perimeter — they need to accommodate the combined movement of the old and new floor together, which can be slightly greater than either floor alone.
Visit Top Floorings Depot
Top Floorings Depot
3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 1, Toronto, ON M1W 3K5
www.topfloorings.com
Call 416-499-0117 | Text 416-770-8819
Showroom Hours: Monday–Friday 9–5:30 | Saturday 9–4 | Sunday Closed
We serve homeowners and contractors across Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, and East York. Visit our showroom to see and feel these products in person before you commit, or contact us for contractor pricing on multi-unit projects.
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