Removing floor tiles is HARD WORK!

[jymbee]

Rent an electric floor tile remover.

Some interesting suggestions-- thanks to all for the input. Yeah, I'm leaning toward the renting option. Didn't even know there was such a machine but both rental places nearby have them and for around $60 I think it would save me a lot of time & work.

 

[jymbee]

Many old tile and adhesives have asbestos as a ingredient. You may want to test your tile and adhesive

Good point but as these files have only been down for less than 10 years that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[jymbee]

I've seen tile removed with a heat gun to soften glue. Tile peels right off.

Yep the heat gun does work quite well. The downside, and it's a big downside, is the time it takes. Just too many of these things to go that route given my lack of patience.

 

[jymbee]

Thanks for the input. Watching a few videos of these electric strippers it became clear that's the way to go. Local rental house has an Edco TS8 for tent for around sixty bucks for a half day, 80/full day. It's amazing how well the glue on these things holds. I tried whacking 'em with everything all kinds of scrapers, pry bars, crow bars, chipping hammers, shingle scrapers etc. -- and they only give up one little piece at a time.

ok -- first off -- from personal experience -- stay away from reciprocating saws with scraper blades attachment. it has too much movement for my liking and when it does strike - sometimes it works sometimes it just jars you right back. you have to use a right balance of angle, speed, and watch what you are doing . no too dangerous.
i have used the harbor freight mini jack hammer with flat blade -- it works, but its also tedious. i used bosch sds bulldog -- it doesnt have the movement like the harbofrieght one but its lighter, smoother and softer. still tedious. those OLLLD tiles on concrete are a BEAR. you cant heat them up and then pull since concrete would suck up so much heat like heatsink it just a waste of gas. if it was on wood subfloor. if it was the newer tiles yeah comes right up with some heat.

whatever you do -- its breathing protection time since it must be one of those old tile before 80s and they use nasty stuff. IF you got a weekend of free time and you can rent a floor scraper, you can stand up ad abuse the heck out of it since its old tiles on concrete. otherwise you will be on your knees all day using a hammer drill type with flat blade. done it several ways and -- my vote is ... rent. :2cents:

 

[teejk]

Some interesting suggestions-- thanks to all for the input. Yeah, I'm leaning toward the renting option. Didn't even know there was such a machine but both rental places nearby have them and for around $60 I think it would save me a lot of time & work.

My dad built a supermarket in the 60's and a very short lived trend at the time was to carpet it (didn't take long to figure out that it was a bad idea....opening day somebody dropped a bottle of bleach). We removed about 4,000 sq ft in a matter of hours with that rental machine. We were working in large areas though and like a sod-cutter it takes some room to get the thing to get a bite. I don't envy you but good luck! Btw, I redid the floors in my MIL's house a few years ago...3 layers of vinyl tiles over wood substrate (fortunately 1/4" ply over the 3/4" subfloor)...I tried the heat gun and knew I would still be working on it today. Trying to lift the entire mass of tiles and 1/4" ply worked for about 2 sheets but my back started to hurt. Got the circular saw out set to a depth that would let me cut manageable strips without penetrating the subfloor. I know you can't do that on a cement substrate.

 

[newbury]

Linoleum over plywood I do in two stages. Big heat gun to remove most of it then wallpaper steamer to remove remaining backing paper and glue. Easy to do.

OP has concrete

Some interesting suggestions-- thanks to all for the input. Yeah, I'm leaning toward the renting option. Didn't even know there was such a machine but both rental places nearby have them and for around $60 I think it would save me a lot of time & work.

But then you don't get a several hundred dollar new TOOL!
Yeah, if you've got a nearby rental center that's the way to go.

Thanks for the input. Watching a few videos of these electric strippers it became clear that's the way to go. Local rental house has an Edco TS8 for tent for around sixty bucks for a half day, 80/full day. It's amazing how well the glue on these things holds. I tried whacking 'em with everything all kinds of scrapers, pry bars, crow bars, chipping hammers, shingle scrapers etc. -- and they only give up one little piece at a time.

Can you rent it on a Friday evening and return on Monday for a 1 day charge?

I had old tile over concrete in my first house. I think when I got it (1978) the floor had been down for about 10 years and I was told by the realtor that in order to remove it I had to do a whole bunch of environmental stuff because it was asbestos and it would be very expensive. About 1 "flood" of less than a 1/4 inch of water every spring and 35 years loosened it all up.

When you do it please report back with pics or video!

 

[teejk]

OP has concrete


But then you don't get a several hundred dollar new TOOL!
Yeah, if you've got a nearby rental center that's the way to go.



Can you rent it on a Friday evening and return on Monday for a 1 day charge?

I had old tile over concrete in my first house. I think when I got it (1978) the floor had been down for about 10 years and I was told by the realtor that in order to remove it I had to do a whole bunch of environmental stuff because it was asbestos and it would be very expensive. About 1 "flood" of less than a 1/4 inch of water every spring and 35 years loosened it all up.

When you do it please report back with pics or video!

When I removed my MIL's floor (3 layers that started back in the mid 80's when the house was built and than added to because the next owner didn't like the previous owner's taste) I asked a flooring professional about asbestos. I was told that they were unique to certain sizes (9x9 being most common).

 

[TomSeller]

Many old tile and adhesives have asbestos as a ingredient. You may want to test your tile and adhesive

This is true, when I did mine I had it tested. Turned out negative.

 

[dragoneggs]

I was buying some stuff from a guy in Orlando on ebay, and noticed a piece of equipment with no bids, so I stuck a "starter bid" in on it, figuring the electric motor was worth $25.00. Asked the wife, and she said it was ok to bid on it, and that my sister in law was going that way and could pick it up. So I ended up buying it. I got a phone call from the wife a couple days later, asking me if I knew what that machine was called, and I said no. She said it said "The Stripper" all over it. So basically, my wife OK'd me buying a $25.00 stripper, and had my sister in law deliver it.
Darn thing set around here for a couple of years till my Pastor went to remodel his house. I told him I had a $25 stripper he could use, and according to him, it worked really great on ceramic tile floors. Then my Mom called and told me my brother was trying to pull the parquet floor out of her den, and I grabbed the stripper and impressed Mom with it. Nowadays it just sits in the garage, waiting on somebody else to need a $25 dollar stripper.
Basically it is an electric motor powered vibrating blade with a weight on wheels.
Rent one, works great!!
David from jax

Wow! You bought a $25 stripper and even got approval from the wife and your sis in law. I am impressed!!! :drink:

 

[soggyman]

Using a scaping blade on sawsall may help I'm sure it will be worth the try

 

[jeremymdacosta]

I've seen this done with a wide mouth propane torch

 

[soggyman]

Using a scaping blade on a sawsall

 

[SimS]

OK, I don't know if this trick will work on tile that's only been down for 10 years but it might be worth a try. Instead of heat use cold. I removed very old tiles from a concrete floor with a chunk of dry ice. I tried the chipper, scraper route but it was painfully slow. I went out and bought five or ten pounds of dry ice and placed it on the individual tiles. The temperature difference and the speed of the temperature change popped the tiles loose from the floor. Still had to scrape the adhesive somewhat to get back to a smooth surface. I don't remember who gave me the trick, it might have been one of the tradesmen on the job site. Good luck.

SimS

 

[TomSeller]

. I don't remember who gave me the trick, it might have been one of the tradesmen on the job site. Good luck.

SimS

Probably someone who accidentally set dry ice on a tile floor . Good tip!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The hard vinyl 12" square tiles that were installed over our concrete basement floor now need to be removed for new flooring. Whatever glue was used is proving to be quite a challenge. Best I can do with a hammer & pry bar is to chip off pretty small pieces with each whack-- with quite a bit of effort at that. Using a heat gun helps a lot but that's pretty time consuming-- having to hold the heat in place and work it over each tile for quite some time to soften them up.

I don't expect there's any "trick" to making what looks like a long, arduous job much easier but perhaps someone has found a better way to remove this old flooring?

I admittedly haven't read all of this thread, but will post this anyway; sorry if it's a duplicate. During my tenure with the state DEQ, we were charged with regulating asbestos removal. It comes to mind that manufacturers used to incorporate asbestos in vinyl floor tiles, and when they harden with age, they will create a dust during removal that contains asbestos fibers. I don't believe they have used asbestos for many years, but thought you ought to be apprised of the possibility, in case you want to take appropriate measures, particularly if the tile is very old.


How to identify asbestos floor tiles or asbestos-containing sheet flooring - Asbestos Visual Identification in buildings: How to find recognize, and identify asbestos or asbestos-containing materials in buildings by visual inspection methods - text about and photos of asbestos containing building products

 

[rswyan]

... Can you rent it on a Friday evening and return on Monday for a 1 day charge?

Probably a wise idea ... :thumbsup:

 

[danito]

Sorry, looks like I'm going to be THAT guy. Can't you just leave it there and put the new material over the tiles? Tile isn't very think, so it can't be a basement height issue, and it's pretty much water proof. Can't be a weight problem either on concrete... Just throwing stupid ideas around. Sometimes the lazy way isn't all that bad, all things considered

 

[jymbee]

... my vote is ... rent. :2cents:

Well those suggesting rent were spot on! After trying just about everything we rented an Edco stripper from a local outfit. Brand new-- unused. Wow. They didn't just fly off but with a little effort it did a great job. Had to start at an angle (as suggested) using the corner on some of the tougher ones but what shaping up to be a day long project only took a bit over one hour.

 

[two_bit_score]

Glad to hear/see that it worked out for you! :thumbsup: