Water damaged linoleum floor - what should I do?

[Mary Winter]

Hello BP community! 

I attached a picture of the damage. You can't see it clearly but it is bucked. The flooring is linoleum. This is in the upstairs bathroom. There was a water overflow from the bathtub last year and it leaked through the flooring to the first floor. 

Since it is damaged, I would like to install waterproof LVP in the bathroom. My contractor said to just install the LVP on top of the current water damaged linoleum flooring. He would screw down the buckled part. I am concerned about this plan because the flooring is water damaged already. I prefer to have him rip out the old flooring and install the LVP. 

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!  

[Theresa Harris]

Rip it up. You have no idea what the floor looks like underneath....then again if it an old house there may be asbestos tiles under the linoelum...in which case see how strong the subfloor is and listen to your contractor.