Ripping up a tile floor

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

We have aroud 700 sf of tile in the house that we'll be replacing...starting with the kitchen last night. :eek:

LOML beat on grout lines with a hammer while I followed with a shovel to break loose the tiles that weren't already. Cheap (not only inexpensive, but 'cheap' tile) was originally put down with mastic over 3/4 OSB with 3/8 plywood for underlayment. Where it's still stuck, it's stuck very well...where it's broken and otherwise NOT stuck, it's pretty obvious I shoulda used more mastic.

This morning I will disassemble the little kitchen island that I built in place on top of the tile...take up the baseboard, clean up the perimieter tiles, and start scraping the mastic off the underlayment. :( :mad:

Hopefully this afternoon I'll be at least starting to put the Hardibacker down. With any kinda luck, I'll be putting new tile down Wednesday, so we can have the kicthen back by the weekend.

The kitchen is the only part that'll be tile again...the rest will be replaced with wood. Which, as I recall, is what I wanted to do to begin with many years ago....:rolleyes:

KC

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Kirk, YUK!! Not a fun job for sure. I have only had the joys of ripping out old tile once, I hope to never do it again! :)

[Andy Halterman]

KC,

A rock bar works well for this job. That is a 5-6 ft. steel bar that goes from round to square with a chisel point on the end. Lots of mass and leverage to remove any stubborn bits. We use one of those and a flat spade type tool and can typically get the tile out with the backer board intact. Makes it much easier to clean up and haul away.

Hey, look at it this way, at least you don't have to use a router for this. :D

Andy Halterman

A rainy monday in Hendersonville, NC

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

KC,

Hey, look at it this way, at least you don't have to use a router for this. :D



Good one. :mad: :p

[Scott Coffelt]

Some day soon I get to do the same thing, only I installed it on durarock with mortar. I am definitely not looking forward to it. I knew we shouldn't have gone with white. This time around it will be slate, but it is part of a big bathroom remodel including new wall tile (the wads didn't use green board or tile board for it, so we have had some issues), new vanities, new counters with new basins, glass blocks, etc. Major renovation. I am working on the vanities now and the slate is in the garage. Once I figure out the wall tile, we'll get moving on it sometime.

[Norman Hitt]

KC,

A rock bar works well for this job. That is a 5-6 ft. steel bar that goes from round to square with a chisel point on the end. Lots of mass and leverage to remove any stubborn bits. We use one of those and a flat spade type tool and can typically get the tile out with the backer board intact. Makes it much easier to clean up and haul away.

Andy Halterman
NC

I've got a tool especially made for removing both ceramic and vinyl tile that I found a few yrs ago at an OLD individual's shop that reconditioned used tools and sold them. It was just what I needed to remove both clay, ceramic and vinyl tile on the remodel of my daughter's house. It is also a heavy steel bar about 5 1/2' long and has a 1/4" thick steel plate about 4" by 6" wide welded onto one end of the bar at an angle so that it is nearly flat with the floor when you hold the opposite end of the bar at arms length by your side, and is sharpened on the top side of the plate. It was the best $7.50 I ever spent on a tool if measured by performance, and is a real back saver.

[Scott Parks]

Isn't there a power tool you can rent for removing tile? Has a vibrating type shovel / scoop that removes tile? In my last fixer I romoved about 300 sq/ft of tile. It was on backer board that was mortared and nailed to the subfloor. It was easy to remove with a shovel. The mortar does not adhere to the plywood sub, so by prying with a shovel, we were able to remove it in approximately 3x5 sections of backer, all in one shot, with tile still atatched..... Only took a couple hours.