Best tool for removing tile and mud job

[Dan Mages]

I am looking for some tool advice. I am about to gut the hall bathroom which has a 3/4" thick mud job under the 1/4" thick ceramic tile. The floor is about the same, but it should be easier as it is crumbling. What is the best way to remove? Brute force with a sledge hammer is an option, but not ideal. Would an angle grinder with a masonry wheel work? How about a pneumatic demolition hammer? Any other suggestions? Any advice is welcome.

Dan

[Jerome Stanek]

A demolition hammer with a wide blade rent one for a day

[Greg R Bradley]

A smallish Demo Hammer works the best for me but it will depend on the specifics. I found a 1 1/8" Rotary Hammer in Hammer Mode with a 2" wide chisel working the best, wedging it in between the mud and the cement underneath. That makes the least mess. Surprisingly a sharp blow into some tiles can help to speed the process.

A bigger Demo Hammer would be better to break up concrete, but I don't quite understand your reference to the "floor underneath". Is the tile/mud on a concrete slab?

The grinder sounds inefficient and would spread dust everywhere.

[Chris Padilla]

Go rent a rotary hammer drill at a rental place or Home Depot. It'll make very quick work of the tile and underlying mud job. They'll have a nice selection of drill sizes and a nice selection of tools to make the job easy and fast. It'll be worth every penny!

[Ole Anderson]

HF 1-1/8" SDS hammer with a wide chisel blade. Then you have a tool for your next demo job. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-18-in-10-amp-heavy-duty-sds-variable-speed-rotary-hammer-69274.html

[Dan Mages]

A smallish Demo Hammer works the best for me but it will depend on the specifics. I found a 1 1/8" Rotary Hammer in Hammer Mode with a 2" wide chisel working the best, wedging it in between the mud and the cement underneath. That makes the least mess. Surprisingly a sharp blow into some tiles can help to speed the process.

A bigger Demo Hammer would be better to break up concrete, but I don't quite understand your reference to the "floor underneath". Is the tile/mud on a concrete slab?
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It might as well be on slab. The plywood subfloor is capped with a 1"+ thick mud slab and then the mosaic tile floor. Some time in the past the toilet had a slow leak and compromised the mudjob. Im sure I will have some plywood to replace.

[roger wiegand]

I've done it with a sledge hammer, an electric rotary hammer would be better. You can hope they put roofing felt under the mud.

[Raymond Fries]

+1 for the hammer drill with a chisel. I did our kitchen with one and it worked great.

[Jerome Stanek]

To bad you aren't closer I could loan you one of mine

[Tom M King]

My main tool for this job is one of these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ludell-60-in-18-lb-Pinch-Point-Heavy-Duty-Bar-50020/204326731?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D25T-HandTools%7c&gclid=Cj0KEQiAu9q2BRDq3MDbvOL1yaYBEiQAD6qoBh5kRCEc uzZBmDWYqPjEvTlYcFfbAYOGqxgNJFNWO4MaAuES8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

A big hammer drill often shakes the rest of the house too much, and a diamond wheel makes too much dust.

[Peter Kelly]

http://www.generalequip.com/prod_images/58.jpg

http://www.generalequip.com/product.php?prodid=19#

Available at most rental yards including Home Despot.

[Mike Berrevoets]

I rented a demo hammer from Home Depot to take out the tile shower floor and mud job. Took more time to get the hammer and bring it back then to do the demo. I think it was about $40 for 4 hours. Best $40 I have spent in a long time....

[Bruce Wrenn]

Ten dollar muffler gun from HF or Northern is what I use.

[Brian Ashton]

Question I have is what do you mean by mud? I've never seen a tile laid over mud before. Mud being drywall mud or maybe some sort of leveling compound... Seen multitudes that have been laid over a very dry mix concrete base that's about 1 or 2 inches thick. If it's mud and it's relatively soft you might find a simple crow or wrecking bar is all that is needed to separate it from the wood floor and you can then break out large sections. I've also found when there's a concrete layer over top of wood it's quite easy to get it lifting with a flat bar or two followed by a large pry bar. If the tiles are laid directly on a thick concrete slab, then that's where I pull out the rotary hammer and chisel.

[Julie Moriarty]

This won't work for the wall (for obvious reasons) but if you want to remove any kind of tile easily, use dry ice. Lay sheets of dry ice on the tile, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then smack it with a mallet. The tile and mortar come up cleanly. Often, the tile comes off unbroken. I've done this on floors and counter tops and it leaves the subsurface almost perfectly clean.

[roger wiegand]

Question I have is what do you mean by mud?

A "mud job" in tile setter jargon is, as you describe, a packed layer of concrete mortar, typically 1 to 1-1/2" thick, usually with wire embedded. The method is now seldom used, since the adoption of concrete backer boards like Wonderboard et al. I've done tile that way and packing the bed is heavy, hard work. Backer board with a layer of Ditra is 10X easier and probably better.

[Chris Padilla]

Right. They call it "mud" or "deck mud" or "drypack". Bottom line, it is concrete with lath embedded in it (usually). They use less water than typical concrete so it can be packed hard and hold shape (like perfect sand at the beach for building castles) and for shower pans, tapered 1/4" - 3/8" per foot to the drain. I know many tile setters who are still "mud men" but many are switching over the Ditra and other membrane methods that are less back-breaking, faster, and easier.

[Chris Padilla]

This won't work for the wall (for obvious reasons) but if you want to remove any kind of tile easily, use dry ice. Lay sheets of dry ice on the tile, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then smack it with a mallet. The tile and mortar come up cleanly. Often, the tile comes off unbroken. I've done this on floors and counter tops and it leaves the subsurface almost perfectly clean.Now there is an idea I hadn't heard of before! Interesting.

[Dan Mages]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will give the hammer drill a try. Next is the hard part... getting SWMBO to settle on design choices. :rolleyes:

[Bill ThompsonNM]

This won't work for the wall (for obvious reasons) but if you want to remove any kind of tile easily, use dry ice. Lay sheets of dry ice on the tile, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then smack it with a mallet. The tile and mortar come up cleanly. Often, the tile comes off unbroken. I've done this on floors and counter tops and it leaves the subsurface almost perfectly clean.
Wow. Nice tip! I'll remember this one.

[Sam Murdoch]

Ditra Mat on plywood or concrete is soooo much easier (a bit more expensive) for laying tile - no baker board required.

BUT as regards the question from the OP if his floor were laid into Ditra Mat removing that is just work - no short cuts, no dry ice, no specialized hammer tips. :eek: My experience anyway - maybe someone can save me some back break next time around - please!