Getting floor tiles up

viv1969

viv1969

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Trying to get tiles up from my kitchen floor and its turning out to be a nightmare.
Whatever they're stuck down with, ain't tile adhesive!!
They are coming away chip by chip.
Tried heat, tried a hammer drill and spade bit.

Anyone have any experience to impart?

Thanks.
 
I took mine up using a soldering lamp to get them really hot, it took ages as it was quite literally one by one.
 
mex said:
I took mine up using a soldering lamp to get them really hot, it took ages as it was quite literally one by one.
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Thanks Mex. A kind soul suggested that when the dining room tiles were also tricky, and it worked to a degree.

These things, though, seem to be stuck down with something used in the manufacture of the space shuttle!! It's unbelievable.

Whoever did it wants taking out back and beating.

I have to look at the big picture. I've turned the kitchen and dining room into a kitchen/diner. A huge DIY project for me that has he generally gone well (including putting in a new floor in the dining room); but I'm running out of ideas for these tiles. :(
 
try using a broad masonry chisel, floor tiles can be a biatch as they are so hard. This type of chisel can spread the hammer load so you are less likely to chip the tile into small pieces but then aim it all at the adhesive. There are hammer settings on some more heavy duty drills that will assist,
 
arch stanton said:
try using a broad masonry chisel, floor tiles can be a biatch as they are so hard. This type of chisel can spread the hammer load so you are less likely to chip the tile into small pieces but then aim it all at the adhesive. There are hammer settings on some more heavy duty drills that will assist,
Click to expand...

Hammer setting on a rather good drill has been unsuccessful. Just lifts the top off the tiles leaving 2/3 of them firmly attached to the floor.

The broad masonry chisel is the only thing shifting them. Inch by b*****d inch.
But thank you.
 
What type of tiles (ceramic, lino?) and what what type of floor (timber, concrete?)

I took the travertine tiles up from our kitchen floor last year and it was bit by bit but travertine is fairly soft and they were on ply which was coming up anyway, I did the job with a hammer and bolster over a couple of days.
 
sirch said:
What type of tiles (ceramic, lino?) and what what type of floor (timber, concrete?)

I took the travertine tiles up from our kitchen floor last year and it was bit by bit but travertine is fairly soft and they were on ply which was coming up anyway, I did the job with a hammer and bolster over a couple of days.
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They're porcelain.
Wooden floor beneath.
 
Currently only a hammer and bolster are doing anything, but Jesus, it's slow.
Shard by shard.
 
viv1969 said:
They're porcelain.
Wooden floor beneath.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but it sounds like you're doing the only thing thats going to shift them - if you've tried drill / suds etc etc, then it's a slow process of hammer and chisel to remove them...
 
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Your local Aldi May have an SDS drill with a masonry chisel attachment.
 
I missed the wood part.

The other option is a ceramic blade in a hand grinder
 
Are they stuck to the actual floor. Most are now glued to an mdf board. If you can get under that, it’s a piece of cake, just lever it all up in several big pieces. If not, then I feel your pain.
 
Pull the floorboards up, turn them over, nail them back down, job done!:D

(Sorry)
 
gremlin16 said:
Are they stuck to the actual floor. Most are now glued to an mdf board. If you can get under that, it’s a piece of cake, just lever it all up in several big pieces. If not, then I feel your pain.
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No, glued to the floorboards.
 
gremlin16 said:
Are they stuck to the actual floor. Most are now glued to an mdf board. If you can get under that, it’s a piece of cake, just lever it all up in several big pieces. If not, then I feel your pain.
Click to expand...
if they were put down right, then they were stuck too ply board or like, like Gremlin said, you would be better off getting under the sheets, and lifting tiles with sheet, this is how i have done this in past , some of these flexible adhesives are a right b*****d to shift
had a customer who had these stuck to floorboards upstairs, I didn't take that job on ..I feel you'r pain.
 
mark richards said:
if they were put down right, then they were stuck too ply board or like, like Gremlin said, you would be better off getting under the sheets, and lifting tiles with sheet, this is how i have done this in past , some of these flexible adhesives are a right b*****d to shift
had a customer who had these stuck to floorboards upstairs, I didn't take that job on ..I feel you'r pain.
Click to expand...

They clearly weren't put down right.
 
mark richards said:
I would rather go with lifting the floorboards, than trying to remove the tiles and adhesive , been there, and tried it, if the room is not that big, then i would lift , sorry.
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Which would be an option if I could replace the actual kitchen, but thanks.
 
viv1969 said:
Hammer setting on a rather good drill has been unsuccessful. Just lifts the top off the tiles leaving 2/3 of them firmly attached to the floor.

The broad masonry chisel is the only thing shifting them. Inch by b*****d inch.
But thank you.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain. I'm just out the other end of a full house refresh. Good luck finding a way.
 
Hmmmm sounds like your at the point of no return ,you’ll just have to keep chipping away .if waterproof cement was used when laying them it will be a lot harder than normal tile cement to . Trouble is it’s likely to leave a rather lumpy surface to lay the new floor might even need self levelling compound laying first
 
For stubborn tiles I use an SDS hammer drill, otherwise it's elbow grease.
I refitted a shop several years ago - 750 sqm of tiles had to be lifted and then retiled.
It took a few days...
 
I realised, after i said it, that you had a fitted kitchen on it, so no option of lifting :( I have tried almost every type of tool, to try and shift these in past without any luck, you end up removing wood and tiles at same time ,like you said ,these bloody stick well,
grinder will make too much dust, and they also do not like wood, looks like you'r only option is to self level and go over it, if you like it or not.
 
mark richards said:
I realised, after i said it, that you had a fitted kitchen on it, so no option of lifting :( I have tried almost every type of tool, to try and shift these in past without any luck, you end up removing wood and tiles at same time ,like you said ,these bloody stick well,
grinder will make too much dust, and they also do not like wood, looks like you'r only option is to self level and go over it, if you like it or not.
Click to expand...

Going over it is not an option, but thanks.
 
Mozthecat said:
Spade and lever them up..
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Literally cannot get even a smaller bolster beneath to get any leverage, but thanks.
Think, as Jeff said, it's a case of just keeping at it...chip by bloody chip. :(
 
andyred said:
but it sounds like you're doing the only thing thats going to shift them -
Click to expand...
Oi you!
I can read edits and the tags still work... :p


Nothing to add, to the other suggestions I'm afraid. Sorry to hear that you are having such a mare Ruth, :(
 
When you say "spade bit", do you mean a normal spade bit or a proper tile lifting chisel like https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p54509? Goggles and dust mask are a must, however uncomfortable they might be and I would suggest a sheet laid over the tiles to be lifted to reduce the amount of flying tile. It's a pig of a job but will be worth it, I hope.
 
viv1969 said:
Currently only a hammer and bolster are doing anything, but Jesus, it's slow.
Shard by shard.
Click to expand...

I stuck my bathroom PVC tiles down with some sort of tile adhesive (I forget which). I sure lived to regret that when I came to remove them. Hammer + 1.5" chisel = tiles removed in pieces no bigger than postage stamps and bloody sore knees :(. I never managed to find any method better than that other than getting someone else to do the work.
 
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