Removing floor tiles

will56

Hi all,

I'm currently taking up my old kitchen hall and utility room floor tiles.
The utility room ones lifted a treat, and the adhesive was easy enough to remove as well.
However when I moved to the kitchen the adhesive seemed to be thicker/a lot harder to remove.

I'm using a kango hammer with a chisel bit on it.

My questions are:
Is there a better tool for doing this job ?
Do I need to get the floor back to bare concrete or is a thin layer of adhesive in parts okay for laying new tiles down ?

Steve

A kango or SDS drill is the best bet.

Are they vinyl or ceramic that you are lifting?

Personally, I'd remove the old cement but that's just me. If it's vinyl adhesive then definitely.

Tap test any areas of cement that are left if you are unsure.... use a small (4-5mm) drill bit and drop it (blunt end on) through your fingers onto the cement. If it 'pings' the cement is sound, if it 'thuds' then dig it up. Same test works on freshly laid tiles to see if they are good.

e.r

You can tile on tile with a primer, if your happy they are well bonded. Reinstate your heights with a floor leveller

will56

Steve wrote: »

A kango or SDS drill is the best bet.

Are they vinyl or ceramic that you are lifting?

Personally, I'd remove the old cement but that's just me. If it's vinyl adhesive then definitely.

Tap test any areas of cement that are left if you are unsure.... use a small (4-5mm) drill bit and drop it (blunt end on) through your fingers onto the cement. If it 'pings' the cement is sound, if it 'thuds' then dig it up. Same test works on freshly laid tiles to see if they are good.

I'm removing the old cement/adhesive as I go, but I wanted to check how thorough a job I need to do ?
Does every las bit of it need to come up or is it alright if there are some patches barely raised up from the main floor ?

Steve

will56 wrote: »

I'm removing the old cement/adhesive as I go, but I wanted to check how thorough a job I need to do ?
Does every las bit of it need to come up or is it alright if there are some patches barely raised up from the main floor ?

If it's sound then leave it as long as it will not affect the new floor.
The original tiler may have spent time prepping the floor and ensuring it was level -or- they may have not - can't tell without seeing it.

If there are lumps in the floor before you tile, there will be lumps after you tile. A DIYer won't be ably to hide them and you will have to live with them for many years.

Believe me, if you pay someone to do it, you pick up the odd flaw, if you do it yourself you see every little flaw every time you walk into the room for the rest of your life!

will56

We're paying someone to lay the tiles, decided to try lifting them myself to save money

Steve

Ah, ok.

Do you think you'll be able to ask the tiler in advance if the prep is OK? i.e. with enough time to rectify whatever is wrong?