Removing cork tiles glued to floor

gimpotronitus

I didn't think this was going to be such a nasty crappy job! Basically I am trying to take up the existing cork/woodchip tiles from the bathroom floor. I had thought that they might come up easy but they are glued directly to the wooden floor boards underneath and are proving very difficult to rip up. I presume there is nothing but a bit of elbow grease to ease the pain? Also, I am lying down ceramic tiles afterwards so how should I treat the wooden floor boards first? Thanks.

Stoner

did you try using a full sized shovel or a flat topped spade, get a start on the tiles and run it in under the tiles, tilers usually screw sheets of marine plywood over wooden floor boards and tile onto them first

Mark0

Hi there
Yes this is a dreadful job.
We did it or started it in a previous house that we were selling, gave it up as a job that required way too much elbow grease just to sell!

In an attempt to make it a bit easier, if I remember correctly, I used a paint stripper to try to melt the glue to some degree and soften the tile before pulling off. Sometimes after doing this a whole tile would come away with ease other times I would just chip away.

Very best of luck.

Victor

Ask the guys in your local plant hire place to see if they have some sort of mechanical scaper.

Ali Cat

Well vinegar dissolves some of th ekinds of glues and pastes that are used for things like cork tiles and wallpaper, just put some in water, soak a rag in the stuff and leave it on the area you're about to try to strip. Hope this works...

seamus

I did this once. Large, flat, sharp wood chisel and a few hours of exhausting work. If the tiles have been down long enough, you may find some of them just popping up, as the glue has melted over the years.