How best to remove the old tiled kitchen floor?
Discussion
I was wondering if anyone has any tips for what I fear will be one of those horrible, tiring, messy, soul deystroying acts of DIY preparation.
I need to remove the tiled floor from a kitchen, the tiles are bonded to a concrete slab below, not floorboards. And the area is about 2m by 4.5m.
Before anyone suggests it, tiling over the old ones has been ruled out.
So far I've thought of apparoaching the task with a mini-Kangol ( jack hammer ) to smash the tiles up, or alternatively to use a wide bladed bolster and a hammer to try and prise the tiles up.
I'm expecting this to be a horrid job, and just wondering whether anyone here has any magical tips/tricks to suggest?
I need to remove the tiled floor from a kitchen, the tiles are bonded to a concrete slab below, not floorboards. And the area is about 2m by 4.5m.
Before anyone suggests it, tiling over the old ones has been ruled out.
So far I've thought of apparoaching the task with a mini-Kangol ( jack hammer ) to smash the tiles up, or alternatively to use a wide bladed bolster and a hammer to try and prise the tiles up.
I'm expecting this to be a horrid job, and just wondering whether anyone here has any magical tips/tricks to suggest?
jet_noise said:
Dear Timmy35,
I only had to do a very small area and the tiles came off dead easy with hammer/bolster chisel as they're quite brittle...
...the adhesive however is a whole different fishy kettle.
I gave up and put new adhesive over old,
regards,
Jet
Ah well that doesn't sound so bad. I only had to do a very small area and the tiles came off dead easy with hammer/bolster chisel as they're quite brittle...
...the adhesive however is a whole different fishy kettle.
I gave up and put new adhesive over old,
regards,
Jet
My alternative I've just thought of could be to remove the old kitchen, build up the untiled area to the same level as the existing tiled area with a thin layer of cement, then tile over the ruddy lot.
Timmy35 said:
.
My alternative I've just thought of could be to remove the old kitchen, build up the untiled area to the same level as the existing tiled area with a thin layer of cement, then tile over the ruddy lot.
If you have the headroom and the window height to allow that, and the floor is solid, then do that.My alternative I've just thought of could be to remove the old kitchen, build up the untiled area to the same level as the existing tiled area with a thin layer of cement, then tile over the ruddy lot.
Otherwise think in terms of the SDS solution. You might get lucky, but if not then mechanical assistance is going to be needed.
S70JPS said:
SDS Drill on chisel mode.
Worked for me too (and wear gloves and eye protection). They were great big thick tiles bonded to concrete; a few came off whole, many in decent chunks and just a few in small bits. Just find an edge, lay it down low and fire away. NB Use a chisel not a drill!
By 'Bonded' tiles i would assume you mean lino type? If so you can hire a floor tile scraper that will have them up in 2 minutes. Be aware that some old tile adhesives contain asbestos. If ceramic tile, wide blade bolster and judicious location on tile before walloping should see them pop up ok.
SDS with chisel type attachment. Same issue here, and went down the Hilti "man-tool" route. Just don't get too over zealous with it. My concrete slab ended up looking like an Afghan motorway with the amount of holes and wadi's in it.
The cost of repeair suggested a professional in the first place, but good luck.
The cost of repeair suggested a professional in the first place, but good luck.
stongle said:
The cost of repeair suggested a professional in the first place, but good luck.
This is so true, professionals can invariably do the job, quicker, better, and even cheaper. But where's the fun in that? Where's the satisfaction in looking over the wreckage of a room that you've been let loose on, the look of bewilderment from your wife for once lost for words, the manly act of ignoring minor DIY inflicted wounds as you stoically refuse to wear a plaster?
Timmy35 said:
This is so true, professionals can invariably do the job, quicker, better, and even cheaper.
But where's the fun in that? Where's the satisfaction in looking over the wreckage of a room that you've been let loose on, the look of bewilderment from your wife for once lost for words, the manly act of ignoring minor DIY inflicted wounds as you stoically refuse to wear a plaster?
But where's the fun in that? Where's the satisfaction in looking over the wreckage of a room that you've been let loose on, the look of bewilderment from your wife for once lost for words, the manly act of ignoring minor DIY inflicted wounds as you stoically refuse to wear a plaster?
Timmy35 said:
Where's the satisfaction in looking over the wreckage of a room that you've been let loose on, the look of bewilderment from your wife for once lost for words, the manly act of ignoring minor DIY inflicted wounds as you stoically refuse to wear a plaster?
The 'Lumberjack Effect'
Timmy35 said:
Where's the satisfaction in looking over the wreckage of a room that you've been let loose on, the look of bewilderment from your wife for once lost for words,
I think she was wanting country kitchen, not wiring mishap with an IED. Still if you're good at art, stick a Banksy on the wall and tell her it's urban revival (or some other Kevin McCloud sh*t).Another vote for SDS drill with a wide chisel bit. I've remove old tiles from my kitchen, porch and bathroom floor using this method and its infinetely better than using a hammer and bolster, especially if the old tiles put up a fight. I used self levelling compound after that which worked a treat getting the floors ready for nice new tiles.
DJFish said:
Oddly enough I tried those to start with but no success - tiles wouldn't shift at all. I think the force was spread over too wide an area. However with a normal chisel bit laid down low they came off quite easily.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff